


Checkmate

by Wicked_86



Category: My Little Pony, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Character Death, F/M, Original Character(s), non
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24739867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wicked_86/pseuds/Wicked_86
Summary: Even after her imprisonment in Tartarus, Cozy's plan was just beginning. Equestria thought they saw the worst of her, they haven't even seen her give her all. Not even 110%.
Relationships: Smolder/Spike (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea I was messing around with

"So, what's this big idea of yours," a muscular menacing centaur, asked. 

Standing atop the old ruins of a once-grand building a trio of creatures young and old, looked beyond the sea of trees below them to see a billow of smoke and a plume of fire dancing before them. 

To the right of the centaur was a small filly, her mane frazzled and limp as the rain-drenched it, it's color seemingly gone as the slight tint of blue could hardly be seen by the dirt and grime within it. 

She smiled at the red centaur with an innocent grin, "Like I said Mr. Tirek," she began, "my plan is like a game of chess-" the young filly looked down at the same bright lights that emitted from a certain royal city, the sounds of roaring celebration emitting as well, "and like a good game of chess we have to take out the pawns if we ever want to get closer to the Queen..."

* * *

There was a level for criminals in Equestria; if they commit crimes against the public they would be sent to jail or prison, if they tried to harm, or kill, Celestia or any of her other royal delegates or family, they would be sent to a dungeon in the recesses of the Cantorlot castle, or face exile. But there was a special place for those that did both, and had magical prowesses that matched up to beings like Celestia, Luna, and even the now reformed Discord; a place far, far away from the monarch's subjects where they could no longer do any harm. That special little place was Tartarus, a small prison-like holding hall that could be described as, extreme detention by young colts and fillies who have heard of the place.

Rather than normal prison cells, most of these dangerous creatures we placed in animal cages, which was fitting considering most of the inhabitants of the cells were animal-like creatures

Well, all except one; in the very back of the prison, guarded by a black Cerberus, a red centaur about the same height as Celestia sighed heavily with an annoyed look. Tirek, who nearly consumed all of the magic in Equestria and had a physique of a muscular greek-god, was now reduced to living in a small cage and had the appearance of a withering old man. It had almost been three and a half years since Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated him, he was so close to finally taking over this world but, like many other villains before him, he had his plans halted once again by the Elements of Harmony.

Although this would have greatly annoyed the centaur, that memory wasn't his current thought of annoyance; to the right of Tirek was a small cage that, surprisingly, had a small, cute, pink furred filly who hummed a tune with a happy smile. This innocent looking filly was CozyGlow she had a smile the could warm anyone's heart, was a bit of a ditz, but would always try to ratify her mistakes. But that was just an act, the moment you turned your back, her large doughy eyes and an innocent smile would be replaced with a more menacing, almost demented smile.  
As for why such a filly was placed in Tartarus rather than some sort of juvenile center, well, let's just say that attempting to take-away all magic from Equestria is a big no-no.

The young filly continued humming, much to the annoyance of the skinny centaur, as she bobbed her head from side to side.

"Cozy Glow" Tirek called to the humming filly, however, she continued to hum completely ignoring the greatly annoyed centaur, "Cozy," he called again in a louder volume, once again, no response, "Cozy!" he yelled in irritation, the filly continued to hum. 

Tirek's face had reddened, even more than usual, at the blatant ignorance of the small filly, "Listen to me you little imp, If you continue to ignore me, I'll flay your skin, and tear out your nerves!" For about the fourth time, she ignored him, realizing the uselessness of continuing this tirade, he ceased his yelling and turned away from the filly.

Just as he did that, the fillies eye's slowly opened, letting out a long yawn as well. She turned to the frustrated centaur with a wide smile, "Good morning Mr. Tirek," she said happily.

"How can you tell the time of day, when there is not a window in this hellhole of a prison," he replied with a sigh, "Also, It's _Lord_ Tirek"

Cozy placed a hoof on her chin, "Lord huh," she parroted. The small filly giggled at the assertion, "For someone like you I don't think that title fits you anymore."

"And what is that supposed to mean!?" he growled, "I'm the most powerful being in this worthless world-"

"You, _were,_ the most powerful being in this worthless world," Cozy corrected, causing the skinny Centaur to glare at the filly, "Oh calm down Mr. Tirek, I was just trying to pass the time."

"Why," he questioned, "You do understand we are here for all eternity right? There is no point in doing something so useless"

"You say that like my plan is over,"

Tirek, at the sound of those words, looked over to the small filly, "What do you mean?"

Cozy turned her head away from the red centaur and stared at the tall double doors that led to the outside, "Everything was going according to plan," she began, "Even if the elements somehow found a way out of this place, all the worlds magic would have been gone-" Cozy furrowed her brow, as she began to remember a certain group of six "But those six cogs, ruined it, had everything went right I would have been ruling this place with an iron hoof and everyone, even non-ponies, would have been under my control. But those, cysts," her voice became oddly deeper and emotionless "because of them, all that planning all that work of having to kiss up to uptight, arrogant, ponies-" suddenly, Cozy's expression changed back to her usual happy, cutesy expression, placing both of her hooves over her cheeks "Everything went exactly as I expected!"

Tirek continued to stare at the filly, somewhat confused by her words, "I don't follow"

Cozy cleared her throat before she began her explanation "You see Mr. Tirek, during my plan over at the academy I had formulated two alternate ones; I'll be honest, I was very confident in my planning, but I just wanted to create some...insurance, in case the other one fell through-" she proceeded to look around the room, "and by the looks of things, it seems that phase one of my alternate plan is going to begin!"

After hearing her explanation, the former lord, looked at the filly with a doubtful expression, "And how do you expect we go about that?" he commented, "As I have stated before, we are stuck here, I doubt you could account for such an escape from a place such as this."

Rather than reply to centaur's remark, Cozy proceeded to tear off a piece of her...fur? Underneath the tape-like fur cover, there were two small bottles: a small brown-tinted glass bottle, and a small, clear glass bottle. Tirek cocked his eyebrows in suspicion at what Cozy was doing but was soon answered when the small filly proceeded to unscrew the top of the brown glass bottle and drizzle the substance from the bottle onto one of the bars, and in an instant, the bar slowly began to corrode stopping only half-way and flattening the corroded part, which allowed Cozy to safely exit the cage with ease.

Tirek stared at the filly with a stunned expression.

"You know, it's a good thing that the royal guards are so incompetent," the filly walked over to the centaur's cage and began to sprinkle a bit of the same substance that melted the bar of her cage, doing the same to Tirek's cage. 

Although they did not entirely melt away the bars were weak enough for the centaur to break the cage open, and exit his cage.

With a slight look of delight, Tirek proceeds to stretch his arms and legs out with a large grin, "Well, I must say," Tirek began, finishing up his stretches, "you certainly are full of surprises."

"What can I say, like a game of chess you have to think about alternate routes before going for the easiest one," after saying that, the small filly pulled out yet another surprise.

"A spoon," Tirek questioned, his eyebrow cocked, "what are you planning to do with that, exactly?"

Once again, rather than answer the centaur, Cozy lifted herself into the air and quietly flew over the three-headed guard-dog, as to not wake them up, and landed next to a sleeping cockatrice.

Cozy then proceeded to poke the beast with the end of the utensil and said beast immediately awoke and went into defense mode.

Cozy stared down at the animal with a demented look, "Time for phase two!" Cozy grabbed the rooster-dragon by the neck and pushed it down onto the ground, its head sticking out of the cage right under the filly, who had raised her spoon high above the beast's head.


	2. Something New, and something Old

"Alright, I think I got it," the purple maned unicorn stated, as she finally finished setting up the welcoming banner. The young mare, along with a few other friends, and one drake were busy setting up various desks and vendors along the halls of the main hall.

Today was like any other day in the not so sleepy town of Ponyville, however, today was not just about the townsfolk, today would be the first day of forever for many ponies and creatures alike, as a new school year would begin.

And this new year would be no better suited than at the Academy of Friendship itself, a school which had been built by the headmare herself, as a way of teaching her lessons of camaraderie for many ponies and creatures alike. It had been some time now since the academy had been active, the summer almost seemed to never end and the sun never seemed to lessen its brightness.

But like any other season, it had come to an end.

With that, many foals and teens alike would find themselves waking up, or being woken up, earlier than usual, and the doors to many of the schools in Equestria would find themselves open. And this school would be no different.

Sweeping up the rest of the dust and bits off of the floor, an orange mare turned to her pegasus friend, "Ya almost done settin' up there Rainbow?" She asked as she lifted the dustpan up into the garbage can.

"Just about," Rainbow Dash responded, as she placed a few more trophies and framed photos of herself on the stand, smirking at the display in pride, "Nice,"

As the blue mare stared at her haughty display, the seton wearing earth pony had a deadpanned expression as she looked over at the stand, guess some ponies can't change, huh? she thought to herself as she trotted over to the slightly hovering mare, "Ya' know Rainbow', when Twi' said to bring some personal items to represent yer self, I don't think she meant for you to tell yer whole life story,"

Rainbow Dash turned to the orange mare with a raised eyebrow, "Why, and miss a chance to show how awesome I am?"

"I'm just sayin', all Rarity brought was a mannequin and a few of her dresses, it ain't like she went as far as to bring her whole shop in,"

"Like I said, why would I miss this chance?" Rainbow retorted, before going back to polish one of her medals

Applejack rolled her eyes before she went on, "Anyways, Twi mentioned somthin' about some 'important guest comin' over to the school; so just try not to let yer awesomeness get too crazy. No offense suge, but ya gotta tendency for goin a bit overboard with yer bosting,"

After Applejack said that, Rainbow let out a faux gasp of shock, "AJ, I'm hurt," she bemoaned, "you say that like I can't control myself-"

"Do I gotta remind ya of the time we almost drowned an entire class of students over a teacher of the month picture," Applejack retorted.

The cocky mare let out an scoff at the retort, as a mixed look of umbrage and embarrassment appeared on her face "D-don't say like all that happened because of me," she quickly shot back, "it was mainly because of you we got into that fight, and out of the two of us, I expected you- of all ponies -to be more level headed!"

"Which is why I said We" Applejack restated to the frustrated mare, who rollered her eyes and quickly returned to her medal with a huff.

"Okay then, anyway," Applejack continued, "anypony remember exactly who these 'important guests' might be?"

Spike, who was busy helping his other pegasus friend polish the windows, glanced over to the inquisitive farm mare, "From what I remember, Twilight said that a ton of leaders would be showing up," Spike explained, "the President of the Minos Republic, the King, and Queen of the Assbiyan Empire, even the Mayor of Detrot are coming here,"

Pinkie quickly interjected as she happily bounced over to the others, "Not only that but Twilight said two very important leaders would be coming over! So along with those three, and the other creatures that those six students are bringing over, we're getting a whole new stack of new non-ponies!" She exclaimed excitedly, anticipating the arrival of the new students.

After she said that, a look of intrigue came across Applejacks face, "Two very important leaders?" she parroted in confusion, "who could those be?" she asked, turning over to the speedster mare who had finally finished the last preparations on her stand.

Rainbow shrugged, " 'Don't know," she answered half-heartedly. She then turned to Starlight, "You live with Twilight, you know anything about 'em Star?"

Starlight shook her head "Sorry, but not even Twilight told me about it, she said she wanted it to be a surprise,"

"Well," Rarity began as she tapped her chin, "if she didn't tell you then..." Rarity hung on to the end of that thought, as a sudden idea hit her. With a small smirk, she looked over at the purple drake, "Oh, Spike~" she called in a sing-song voice.

Spike could almost sense what the mare wanted from him, she knows that Spike had always had a crush on the regal-looking mare, and so like any other diva, she used it for her own needs. Not to say she would do it for any wrong intentions, far from it, she would mostly use such cutesy looks simply to get the drake to do an array of chores for him from time to time.

And this time was no different.

Rarity began to walk closer to the drake, as he felt his eyes begin to dart, "N-no way Rarity," he rebutted, "Twi promised me not to spoil anything,"

Rarity batted her eyes in her usual, sultry, fashion, "Oh, come now my wittle Spikey-Wikey," she cooed, "we're all friends here, I'm sure you can tell me just a little bit about it right?"

By this point, Spike was beginning to blush, as Rarity was a mere few feet away from him, and the others started towards the drake, anticipating his answer, "Well, Spike," Rainbow said, "what is it,"

"Who are they?"

"Is it somepony, or creature we know?"

"Are they dangerous?" Fluttershy asked fretfully

"Do they like parties?"

Spike rubbed the back of his head, "W-well," he stuttered, as Rarity inched closer.

"Please Spike," she cooed again, with a pleading look in her eyes, as if she were about to cry.

With a defeated sigh, Spike caved, "Alright, but I'm only gonna tell you guys this-" he proceeded to look around, as if the headmare was an ear away, "don't tell anypony, but from what I heard, these leaders are pretty good trading pals with Equestria, the Dragon Kingdom, and the Crystal Empire, and they're working on something that could totally revolutionize Equestria as we know it!"

After Spike said that, everyone's eyes seemed widened at the mention of a new invention, and one that could revolutionize Equestria at that. It was enough to excite the other mares greatly.

"A new invention that could revolutionize," Rarity said, paraphrasing the young drakes words, "How marvelous, what could it be?"

"Is it some kinda cropping machine?" Applejack asked eagerly.

"Ooo, or is it some sort of machine for animals,"

"Is it a Time Machine?!"

With each intrusive question, Spike let out yet another sigh, "Look that's all I can tell you, girls, for right now," he said sternly, "I promised Twilight I wouldn't say anything else, okay?" With that, the drake flew towards the door of the school's entrance hall.

"Way to leave us on a cliffhanger, squirt," Rainbow groaned.

Rarity let out a sly giggle, "Oh don't worry Dash, I'm sure I can get some more information out of him-" she batted her eyes and playfully swatted her mane, "I can get him to talk,"

Applejack shook her head at her friend, bothered by her plans, "You're gonna break that poor dragon's heart one of these days,"

Rarity giggled, "Oh worry not, I'll be sure to give him my finest gems in reward for that tidbit of information,"

That ain't gonna work forever, Applejack criticized in thought, "Right, anyway," she continued, "now that Spike mentioned it, where is Twi anyways, the school's about to open up in an hours or so,"

"Not only that," Spike added, as he pointed to the window near the large doors, "come look at this," following the dragon's words, the girls quickly trotted over to the large pane of glass and stared out to see a large wave of ponies of all colors and races standing about at the gates, waiting for the school to open their doors and begin the new semester.

All the girls seemed shocked to see such a large wave of students attending the academy, sure it wasn't like they were expecting a few new students to attend and enroll in the school, but this was much more they had bargained for.

"Oh man," Pinkie exclaimed, brimming with excitement, "look how many new students there are!"

"This is gonna be one heck of a year," Rainbow added, looking over at a small group of colts who seemed a bit more muscular, "and I think my Hoofball team just got some new players," she said with a smirk.

While some of the other girls seemed excited by this, Starlight and Spike had a worried look in their eyes. With the time limit of the school opening getting closer and Twilight missing, along with the large wave of students that appeared out front, they weren't quite sure what to do next.

Starlight turned to the fretful drake, "Well, we can't wait for Twilight forever," Starlight said," wherever she is, hopefully, it's somewhere close," With that said, Starlight went over to the doors and soon a cyan aura grew around her horn as she was about to open the door. However, before she could even open it, Spike stopped her, "w-wait," he shouted, "Twilight isn't here yet, shouldn't we wait?"

"I'm sure Twilight will understand," Starlight retorted, "she'll probably be more pissed if we didn't open the school up now,"

"I know, but, she was just so excited an everything and-" before he could finish that thought, a blue hoove draped the dragon's shoulder.

"Look, Spike," Rainbow Dash said with a reassuring smile, "I know you care about Twilight, but right now, I think the best option is to open the school up now. Besides, I'm sure Twilight will understand, alright?"

Spike let out a defeated sigh, "Alright," he said with a small nod.

With that clearing, Starlight quickly opened the doors, which allowed a great light to enter through the academy, "Here we go," she exclaimed at the two large doors fully opened exposing not just the courtyard, but the many students standing on it.

Ponyville, a quiet, quaint, village of simple folk who live there lives on a day to day basis. despite having a few, odd, occurrences with certain magical confrontations; and having a literal princess in their town, Life for this village had been average at most.

However, a few miles away from the humble town in a deserted dirt area, laid a hallow tunnel channel that would be used by the quote-unquote local diamond dogs whenever they were searching for gems. The tunnels were virtually unknown to many of the citizens in the town, outside of the elements beares as well as their friends and family, so the knowledge of the diamond dogs was very little in the town.

Since the encounter between a certain fashionista and three diamond dogs, no one else had dared to traverse through the area, fretful of the idea of being kidnapped by the nefarious canines.

However, two certain characters, one of whom merrily skipped, made their way through one of the tunnels beneath the barren piece of land. The first of the characters hummed a quaint song as she skipped along, while a certain, slightly muscular, red centaur briskly walked aside her, ignoring the filly's overtly excited expression.

Following their breakout from the prison, the two escapees' traversed throughout the rest of the dry mountains land where Tarturus resided. The majority of their trip was spent in silence, the only time the two would speak to one another was only when they discussed their plans for their 'comebacks'.

After a few days, and much to their luck, they found a diamond dog tunnel that provided three essential things to the both of them; a warm bed to sleep on and regain their energy, some extra gems they could use on the journey, and for Tirek, a new food supply.

The two journeyed through one of the tunnels, each step they took, sounded by the crunch of dirt and gravel.

While Tirek walked in silence, Cozy, whose fur was stained and sulled with bits of dried dirt, mud, and even blood, hummed a small she heard in Appleoosa quietly as she trotted, her head bobbed the internal rhyme and beat of the song.

As they continued walking Tirek intentionally cleared his throat, gaining the little filly's attention, "So Cozy," the centaur began, "where is it we are going exactly?"

The small filly let out a giggle, "Wouldn't you like to know," she responded playfully, much to the centaurs dissatisfaction.

Tirek glared at the sociopathic filly, "I very much would," he said, "we've been walking for what had felt like months now, and not for a single one of them have you said anything regarding this plan of yours, so spill it,"

"It's a surprise!"

"I am not in the mood for a surprise you, mistake, tell me now or-" before he could make his threat, the mare turned back at the centaur with large 'innocent' eyes.

"You'll do what? Kill me, tear out my nerves and tear of my head and shit down my neck?" she inquired, with a childish giggle, "I don't killing me is gonna help you much, Tirek,"

The centaur gritted his teeth upon hearing the name, "It is Lord Tirek, you worm," he growled, "and from the looks of things, I have enough power to crush those puny bones of yours into a fine salt!"

"Hm," Cozy hummed, "I guess you could kill me, these mines would be the best place to do it to, but, what are you gonna do after I'm dead?"

Tirek scoffed at the question "What an assinine question, I'm going to-"

"Attack Cantrlot right," Cozy interrupted, "try to take over Equestria, get close and then get defeated by the mane six, and get caught again. That whole song an dance, right?"

Tirek stared daggers at the small filly for her interruptions, "W-why you little-"

"Only this time, not only will I not be there with you, but I guarantee you they're not gonna put you back in the cell; Equestria has a tight zero-tolerance policy when it comes to child murder. I'm not much of a psychic, but it can see death in your future,"

"What are you talking about?" Tirek growled, "There's no way-"

"It could happen?" she interrupted once again, however, her voice had become much different , and she seemed much more serious than before "Oh, it will Mr. Tirek, and let me tell you why; It's because villains like you and Chrysalis, and Sombra always go after the easiest move first, you never once think about alternate paths, or what your enemy is thinking, or any other basic planning."

"You always just think because you have the best abilities and powers, that you have to flaunt it like some Las Pegasus whore. It makes me sick to see someone as powerful as you, lose to a group of mares whose only luck was just the horse-crap that is, 'the magic of friendship'.

Tirek raised his eyebrows suspiciously, "I thought you wanted to become the Empress of Friendship?"

The young filly scoffed, "You think I, actually, believed in any of that," she let out a small, yet deep, chuckle, "if that their version of friendship, that can have it for all I care. I don't much care for that plan anymore, I mean at least until we get to the final step, no, for now, we still have so much to do,"

She slowly shook her head, "but that's not the point I'm talking about right now," Cozy continued, "every villain they've encountered they always seemed to win, even when they were close to losing, they somehow reconvene and win in the end. Villans like Discord who have the ability of a god, villans like Chrysalis who had an entire army at her beckoning call, had being the keyword."

"They all had the right elements, yet they were all wasted because of shitty planning and overzealous attitudes,"

Tirek scoffed, "You say that as if you weren't the only one whole lost to them, from what I remember your plans were foiled all because of, what was it you said, 'shitty planning'?"

The second after he said that, Cozy stopped dead in her tracks, causing the large centaur to also stop, "Let me ask you something mister Tirek, did you ever think about what happened when you got caught?" Cozy Glow inquired, as she turned back to the stallion with a deadpan expression, "did you ever think of any alternate routes before trying to take over Equestria, and trying to kill the Princesses?"

Tirek seemed to pause before replying, a look of unsureness was across his face as the filly waited for a response, "I-I," Tirek stuttered as he tried to think of a response to her demanding question. Tirek, the same centaur who came close to conquering the entirety of Equestria, and ruling it with an iron fist, was stumped the little filly's question.

"Let me guess, you didn't think to kill the princesses did you?" Tirek stood silent, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"It is below me to take a life," he retorted lowly.

The second Cozy Glow heard his reply, she laughed as if she just heard the worlds best joke, "What's so funny," he hissed, demandingly.

"It's just that, well, I think that's probably the funniest thing I've heard all day! The big bad Tirek is too awaid to get his hand all diwty,"

Tirek growled, "Do not mock me, why should I have to take a life when I can have my minions do it for me,"

"And yet, you have none, it's just you and me, and no one else, " Tirek glared at the Cozy as a feeling of irritation rose within him. Cozy's sarcastic smile changed to one of remorse, "look mister Tirek, all I'm trying to do is help you, and all I want is for you to help me.

"If we are going to succeed this time we'll have to give it our all, and that includes having to get dirty, whether you like it or not-" Cozy Glow stuck out her hoof, "okay?"

Tirek simply stood in silence once again, staring down at the fill with a cold glare before walking past her with a huff, 'I guess I'll take that as a yes' she thought to herself as she trotted over to the muscular centaur in an effort to catch up with him.

Back at the Academy, the academy walls were a bustle with sound, as nearly a thousand ponies of all shapes, colors, and sizes walked about the entrance hall with great intrigue. To these seemingly average ponies, it was quite the privilege for them to simply set hoof in the academy built by the princess of friendship herself, but also where the infamous Cozy Glow Incident took place.

For a long while, a widespread buzz about the school was posted on newspapers around both Equestria, and even outside of the continent.

So it was no wonder why so many in Equestria were so invest in the school that was not only run by the elements of harmony themselves but was also where yet another great evil was deafened by the magic of friendship.

It was also no wonder why the enrollment numbers seemed to increase immensely.

However, while nearly everypony was invested in the school and the incident, it seemed as though no one cared about who were the group of ponies who took down cozy, and simply assumed that once again, it was the Elements doing their duty. While the papers did mention a group of students taking her down, it was never specified who they were.

For the other elements and students, however, they knew the truth of that event; and, they know it wasn't just some random group of ponies. In fact, they weren't even ponies, to begin with.

One of the students responsible for stopping Cozy Glow's plan was currently reading one of the pamphlets on one of the self-serve vendor stands. With each word the orange scaled dragoness read, it seemed that the school was using the incident as a selling point of their academy, "Hmm," the orange dragon murmured as she read, Well, Professor Twilight really not one for showboating, so I can only think of one pony who's print this crap out,

Quickly finishing up on the pamphlet, she was about to place it back on the table, and venture the other parts of the school to see if any change had come about. That was until the sound of a certain heavy set student and her tremendous hooves came bolting towards the dragoness, "Smolder," the yak exclaimed, as she nearly galloped towards her.

"Yona-ahh!" Smolder responded inquisitively, as the last part of her response was exclaimed due to the sudden bare hug given by the large sow, who was nearly crushing the poor reptilian with her strength.

Yona continued to hug the drake with all her might, "Yona can't believe it's you," she said as she beamed with glee, "It's been so long since we've last seen each other!"

"Yeah, I know, it good to see you too and all," Smolder wheezed, "but um-" she then nudged her shoulders a bit.

Once the yak sow noticed the dragons signifying nudged, she quickly released Smolder, "Oh, Yona's sorry about that," she said with an embarrassed chuckle, "It's just been a long time,"

"It's only been three months," Smoulder muttered as she cracked her back. She then smiled back at her large friend "but, it's good to see you too, Yona," she replied, "so how have things been since the-" she raised her arms in an air quoting motion, "Not-So Cozy Incident, as everybody calls it,"

"Oh, Yona's life has been pretty so-so since then," she replied, "Even after the conversation all our parents had with miss Twilight after it. Yona's never seen her mother get so, how do you say it, get so red in the face before,"

Smolder chuckled at the memory, the month following up with the incident, there was a Parent-Teacher conference between the parents of Yona, Smoulder, and all the other students involved in the incident, and the mane six. Suffice to say, many of them were not happy with what happened, especially Yona's mother, who used some...harsh words during the conversation. Following that conference, Twilight made a promise an increase in security checks for the school, which, while it didn't one-hundred percent better the relationship between the parents and staff, they compromised with the action.

"Heh, yeah, and here I thought dragons were the only one that could blow smoke." The two shared a quick laugh, "seriously, who knew your mom could swear like that,"

"Definitely not, Yona," The yak replied, "if Yona didn't know any better, she could have confused her mother for a Sailor pony," she jested with a hearty laugh.

Smolder let out another chuckle, "Ha, no kidding,"

"Yeah," Yona said with a sigh, catching her breath from her laughter, "Anyhow, how have things been on Smolder's end? From what Yona heard, you, Spike, and your brother went to-what was that place ponies called it Fill..idel...phia?"

The moment Yona asked Smolder, the dragonesses eyebrows rose in surprise at the question, and her smile seemed to falter, "Oh, so you heard about that, huh?" she asked, to which the sow nodded.

Smolder let out a quiet groan, I'm gonna kill, Spike! she hissed in thought, as a mixture of frustration and embarrassment rose within her, "Ugh, look don't take it the wrong way or anything, he just-" before she could even finish, the shrill shout of a familiar mare caught the two's attention.

The yak and dragon turned just in time to see a certain pink hippogriff fly towards them at great speed, "Smolder, Yona!"

"Silverstream," Yona and Smolder said in unison. The second Smolder turned, the hippogriff crashed into her with great velocity, sending bother her and the dragon a few feet away from the shocked yak.

This once again caught the attention of many students, who turned to the scene with much confusion, especially for two students who had completely different expressions from the scene; while the two of them went over to check on Smolder and Silverstream, a look of great concern was displayed on one of them, while the other, couldn't help but let out a laugh at the crash.

"What the hell is up with everyone hugging me!" Smolder shouted.

Silverstream rose up from the dragoness with an embarrassed look on her face, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," she apologized as she held her talon to pick up the toppled dragon, "I-I was just super excited to see you again, I mean it-

"Yeah, yeah, it's been so long," Smolder interrupted, as she took the hippogriff's talon and pulled up.

Just as she did, the two students, a changeling, and a griffon respectively, landed before the two of them, "Oh gosh, are you guys, alright ?" The light blue changeling asked concernedly.

"Wow, it's only the beginning of the school year, and you two are already trying to make the cutest couple list, how progressive of you," the familiar azure griffon jested, giving the two a playful thumbs up.

"Nice to see you too, Gallus," Smolder greeted with a deadpan expression, before turning to the changeling with a smile, and held out her fist, "You too, Ocellus,"

Ocellus smiled back at the dragon and bumped her fist, you too, "Same to you," she greeted, "I know it's only been a few months but still, it's really good to see you,"

'You're, not the only one,' she thought to herself with a chuckle.

"It's good to see all of Yona's friends again," she greeted with a warm smile.

"Looks like the gangs all here," a new, yet familiar voice greeted.

This, once again, caught the attention of the group, as they all turned to see the student. The moment they did, they were surprised by what they saw; in front of them was a stallion they knew very well, however, something about him seemed greatly different in his appearance.

From the looks of it, the stallion had the same fur color and mane color of a certain somepony, but his frame was completely opposite from what they were introduced to before. What was once the body of a lanky earth pony was now the brawny body of a teen that could easily pass for an all-star jock.

"Uh, hey guys," The stallion greeted once again, in a much awkward tone, "what's up,"

"What's up," Silverstream repeated, "You being bulked up, is what's up!"

Sandbar chuckled sheepishly at the remark with a goofy smile, "Oh, heh, I guess you guys are a little surprised, huh?"

"A little bit," Gallus commented.

Sandbar chuckled, "Yeah, I guess that's what I get for spending a summer working with my uncle in Haywaii,"

"Haywaii?" Yona repeated in confusion.

"Well, it's sort of a long story, but basically after the whole Cozy Glow thing, my parents wanted me to stay with my uncle to relax from it all,"

"Relax?" Smolder repeated inquisitively, "from what I remember, I don't think any of us got shellshocked from that whole fight, so..."

"Yeah, I know," Sandbar admitted, "but who's gonna give up a chance to go on a tropical vaycay? Anyways, when my uncle heard about the whole thing, he decided to put me on his training regimen, and well-" Sandbar then pointed to himself, "here we are today,"

"Well, from the looks of it," Ocellus began, "Seems like your Uncle really put the work in,"

Sandbar sniggered, "Man, you have no idea," he jested

Just as he said that a shout from a random pony caught the attention of not just the six students, but all the other ponies as well, "Hey everyone, look outside," the stallion directed, as every mare and stallion found different windows to look through, while others simply went out the open door and into the courtyard to get a closer look.

Intrigued by the commotion, the six students took to going through the entrance door and checking out what was going on.

To their surprise, it was something they, nor anyone in Equestria, had seen before; pulling up to the school was a pearl-white, stretched out, ponyless carriage that somehow drove itself all the way to the yard. Adorned on the carriage were two Tri-colored flags of green, sky-blue and red, with a black symbol in the middle, as well as a small ornament at the hood of the carriage, which greatly confused the identity of the odd wagon for many ponies.

Smolder leaned next to Sandbar, "what the heck is that?" she asked, as she pointed at the approaching carriage,"

"I'm not, really sure," Sanbar replied as he continued watching the carriage.

The carriage slowed down its acceleration, as it approached the yard of the school, and finally made its stop right in front of the yard. Getting out of the front seat of the carriage, was a well dressed Diamond Dog wearing a pinstripe black suit and a chauffer's hat. This caused much commotion to rise in the audience, as they looked at the dog with unsure and even defensive expressions. Especially Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and of course, Rarity.

"Is that a diamond Dog?"

"I thought princess Twilight and her friends ran them out of town,"

"Is he here to kidnap us?"

The dog walked over to the far end of the carriage and opened the door on the left side of the strange vehicle, and stepping out of the weird carriage was something that, once again, the audience was not prepared to see.  
Stepping out the vehicle first, were two diamond dogs, male and female respectively, that walked out of the vehicle.

Their appearance was something that many ponies wouldn't have expected from a usual diamond dog. Rather than the simple rags and vest, they were known for, the former wore a fine black suit that almost oozed a feeling of importance and leadership, while the latter wore a simple white suit jacket. Clothing aside, one flaming factor was the long red sashed that the apparent couple had on, was almost automatically on everyone's minds.

While most wondered about the appearance of the tiro of canines, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity, looked at the three dogs with unsure faces, "So what's the plan?" Rainbow asked, as her wings flared up.

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked

"What do ya mean' what do I mean," she scolded with a cynical tone, "I'm talking about those two dogs down there," she said, pointing over to the formal looking dogs, "From what I remember last time, three of them tried kidnaping Rarity, and from the looks of it, I think they're getting payback,"

"Do you really think they'd do that after all that time?" Fluttershy asked, unsure of what the two dogs would do, "I mean, who's why would they do it now?"

"Well, I'm not one to judge so quickly," Rarity said, eliciting a silent scoff from Starlight, "but, if I know anything about diamond dogs, they probably here to-" before Rarity could finish her thought the second surprise awaiting the crowd walked out of the long vehicle. The moment the mare, as well as the other elements, saw her purple fur, and indigo mane, their eyes widened.

"T-Twilight!?" the sextuplets shouted almost in unison.

The mare in question looked up at her friends, and the moment she saw them, her cheeks grew red and she smiled awkwardly, "Oh, hey girls," the mare greeted, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment, "Uh...surprise?!"


	3. First Week of Forever

Time... Time has always been something of both a gift and a curse for many creatures, young or old.

For those who educate the youth, those who write great stories of heroism and adventures, and those who craft and create works that would bring even someone like Celestia to tears, time is something that they adore, after all, their professions crave time. When creating new works and theories and ideas, for them, time is a godsend among gods, it's a cherry on top of the mortality sundae, it's something that gives.

And, it's something that takes

For those who've lived in the shadows, who's hooves are stained with the essence of another living soul, time is cruel.

For those who commit crimes, who act invincible to the law as if they were some sort of celebrity, time is something wish they could take back, replace, or even just stop with a simple death. Whether they be in jail for all eternity, or in their special kind of hell, time is something they wish they had less of, or if anything, something they could change.

And for one centaur, that's exactly what he receives

As a curse, time was something that had been, well, quite unforgiving towards Tirek, as the days he spent in Tartarus were nothing more than a long gray box of infinite time. With each scratch, he embedded into the wall of his eternal home, as the nails of his fingers began to chip and rip with each carving made.

Ever since his imprisonment, Tirek form not only deteriorated, his soul, or what was left of it, went with him as he was locked within the eternal box at the hooves of a Miss Twilight Sparkle, and the other new element bearers.

As the cage was locked on him again, he repeated what was left of his present, and continued to scratch the time and pace about.

Time had been something that's always seemed to be against the meek centaur. But one day, where the nail of his index finger broke, a message seemingly from nowhere appeared in front of the former lord queerly.

He had never seen a letter in what felt like a millennium, the last he received was from the snake, Discord, and even then it was nothing more than a mindless jest.

However, much to his surprise, this letter was quite real, and it was from someone Tirek would ever expect.

A filly.

A small filly who lived out in the western part of Equestria and was seemingly interested in the lord for one simple favor. Domination. No friendship, no fluff, even in her words, she as quite blunt. Wanting not only to take over Equestria but locking away the Elements of Harmony truly would have been the icing on the cake if it weren't for the plans unfortunate end.

Despite all the filly's planning and practice, her demise soon came to an end by the powers of the damned elements. And just like him, she too was imprisoned for going against royalty. And once again, Tirek found himself, scratching and pacing the floor of the cell he called home, but now with the company of a filly who smiled didn't seem to end for all of eternity.

However, it seemed once again, father time had allowed his filly an upper hoof in both her and Tirek's imprisonment that would come in the form of a vile of acid, allowing the two to successfully escape.

It would seem, after all this time, Chronos had finally sided with the former lord, allowing him the hand that he was denied even in youth. A chance to be stronger, to rule, to be known.

It had been a month since the two had escaped, and it had taken days upon weeks just to traverse the many caverns and mines underneath Equestria, as they walked through the dug-out diamond dog tunnels, where once again an array of gems, as well as Diamond Dogs, found to be of good use for both Cozy, and Tirek.

The two continued to walk in silence since their last conversation, as Tirek opted from talking to the filly who happily hummed a small tune as they went on.

For Tirek, getting so annoyed by the Filly that was beneath him. Sure he was greatly irritated by it at one point, but with his newly found freedom, he could simply crush the filly like an ant and proceed with his plans for domination.

He might just do that once they arrived at whatever destination they finally arrived at, 'Hm, what an insolent child', he thought to himself, 'I won't be there for you,' who is she to assume I ever needed her guidance in the first place?' I could have successfully escaped from that wretched hell myself!

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a certain pink filly walked closer to him with an inquisitive look, "What'cha thinking there Tirek?" she asked with a seemingly innocent smile.

Tirek ignored the filly's question and continued his silent, stoic, walk.

"You're really just gonna stay silent huh?"

Tirek did not respond.

Cozy glow simply shrugged at the silent response, "Fine, whatever," she said, " just remember what I said Tirek, I scratch your back, you scratch-" before she could even finish her statement, a sudden flashing light emitted from the impromptu satchel bag that Cozy Glow made those many weeks ago. This not only caught her attention but the attention of a certain silent centaur as well, who turned to see the source of the sudden light.

"What is that?" Tirek asked demandingly, as he stared at the filly.

Rather than respond to the former Lord, Cozy pulled out the true source of the blinking light, a dull red rock with a foreign symbol on the front, and simply glanced at it before looking up at the soil above them. The filly walked on forward, past Tirek, who was seemingly pestered by the filly's refusal to answer the closer she walked, the faster the light blinked.

Tirek glared at the filly "Well?"

"We're here," Cozy said in a much more serious tone, which caught Tirek slightly off-guard.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we are here," she reiterated, "In Ponyville,"

The second she said 'Ponyville', Tirek's eyes seemed to light up with a mix of intrigue, and doubt, "How do you know that?"

Cozy Glow turned to the confused centaur with a small smirk, "You know that one cavern we went through back in Badlands, you know, with that mostly female colony of diamond dogs?"

Tirek hesitantly nodded, albeit, a bit annoyed by the memory of some of those cforcing themselves on to the large centaur, "Quite," he said with a tone of slight disgust. It wasn't that he didn't fancy the idea of having a queen to rule with him, but he would rather be sent back to Tartarus than allow his seed to be mixed with that of a common diamond dog bitch.

Cozy continued, "Well, while we were there, I found one of these little gems here-" she lifted the rock higher to display for Tirek, "from the looks of it, those dogs were using this as a way to gather rare gems and crystals, it's sort of like the way they use a divining rod to find water in Sonambula,"

Tirek nodded, "I see, but what does that have to do with Ponyville?"

Cozy smirked, "let's just say her holiness, got a bit of an upgrade ever since you destroyed her castle,"

"An upgrade?" Tirek skeptically parroted, "What are you on about?"

Once again, rather than respond, Cozy moved a few feet back, and pointed up at a specifically darker part of the soil above them, "why don't you be a dear Mr. Tirek, and fist that tight hole to find out,"

'Hm, for such a young filly, her vernacular is quite vulgar, Tirek thought in disgust, "I'm not taking orders from an imbecilic foal like you. However, for this plan of yours, I shall check," with that statement, he walked over to where the filly was pointing. He clenched his fist with all his might, and with a quick, powerful motion, he directly hit his target causing much of the dirt, dust, and soil to explode in a powerful blast, causing the two escapees to cover their eyes.

Once the dirt and dust had cleared, dim sunlight emitted from the large hole in a way as if a pair of angles had shined a path for the duo.

Not taking a second to think of it, Tirek poked his head out of the dirt hole and discovered something that nearly made his jaw drop; what was once just a simple library that was crafted in the shape of an oak tree that the confused centaur blew up those five years ago, a good twenty miles before the hole, was a large skyscraper high crystalline castle that gleamed beautifully as the sun peaked from the ground. While it wasn't the color that intrigued Tirek, it was the castle's immersive size, as it nearly seemed to shadow over every home and building in Ponyville.

"A castle," Tirek finally spoke, as his encapsulated mind stared at the gorgeously, colorful, gleaming castle, "What in the world-"

"Looks like someone needs a major update," Cozy commented with a sly smile, as the centaur stared at the castle with a dumbfounded look.

In the wee hours of the morning, while some of the business owners and early birds in town awoke to the new day, the town had a tranquil sort of silences that would put those relaxation tapes to shame. From the quiet chirping of the birds to the rustling of the grass, it almost seemed like the perfect morning.

This sense of tranquillity was no better understood, than the student who attended Twilight' Friendship Academy, as they were seemingly taking in this relaxation as most of the students slept soundly before the day could begin.

And for one certain green colt, this tranquility wasna absolute gift for him, as his first-class was something he was not very fond of.

As he lay in his bottom bunk bed, the colt slept with a small smile, as he dreamt away of pleasant things. Of grand adventure, of epic battles, and of course scantily clad mares. It would be quite the dream to start the day off.

Sadly, that moment of silent peace would not last, as a sudden, ear-grating, the sound quickly woke up the stallion with a startled shouted as he clumsy fell out of bed due to the out of place noise.

Quickly getting off of the floor, the colt looked around the room frantically for the culprit of the noise.

The second he did, however, his excitement quickly simmered into an annoyed look, as only a few feet away from the irritated colt was a foreign, yet familiar square device that laid atop the wooden desk of his room, letting out a shrill ring as it continued to lay there.

The object itself was something of an oddity in Equestria, but it was the owner of the object that was much more foreign to the country.

Hopping off the top bunk of the bed, a bipedal dog made his way over to the ringing object with a long groan and picked up the strange object, and stared at the front of it, letting out another annoyed grunt with a muttered, 'Dammit' in his native language, before he tapped on the strange device.

The diamond dog tapped on the face of the device before suddenly, the device glowed on, and emitted a cyan light that morphed into the bust of another, much more feminine looking, diamond dog, "What," he groaned, as his tired eyes glared at the female bust,

"Good morning my little, pup," the mature diamond dog cooed, "are you awake?"

"No, I'm totally still asleep, this is just my bunkmate. No duh, I'm up."

The hologram glared at the young canine with a look only a mother could give to her son, "No need to be so snappy," she scolded, "You know the service in Equestria is still a little weak, so I can't see you. Besides, I just wanted to make sure you were awake," she explained, although the young canine was not too thrilled by that statement.

"Oh yeah, cause I totally couldn't wait to wake up in the backwoods hell-hole that is Ponyville, thanks for reminding me, Mom," The Eskimo scolded sarcastically, much to the hologram's displeasure, "For Alpha's sake, this place doesn't even have plugs! How do you expect me to live like this!" he shouted.

The mother dog started sternly at the upset canine, "I don't much care for your tone, mister," she snarled in umbrage.

As the dog continued his back-and-forth with his mother in their native tongue, Sandbar placed a pillow over his head, attempting to drown out the noise keeping him from his last few minutes of rest.

However, no matter how many pillows he used, it was too late to go back, and once the colt realized this, he let out a long sigh and rose from his bed, Great, another morning of this, Sandbar internally groaned, as he looked at the dog before walking over to the closet.

As Sandbar began picking out his clothing for the day, as well as getting some of the necessities for the shower, Adalrik continued his conversation, completely ignoring the earth pony, "Look, I know you and Dad, wanted me to make more friends and all, but couldn't you guys have taken me somewhere-" he glanced over to slightly irritated pony, "Cleaner, like Manehatten, or Canterlot, hell, I'd even take The Crystal Republic, anywhere I at least know the ponies have some form of basic hygiene. But instead, you take to some tiny podunk cow-town?"

Despite speaking in their native language, just from his body language and tone, Sandbar could tell that, once again, the arrogant prince was defacing his hometown's name for the millionth time. That and, thanks to a quick purchase, he was able to pick out some of the negative words that the prince had been using against Ponyville.

"Now, Adalrik," she scolded with a stern tone, "I know it's not much, but your father and I did not take here for some kind of punishment, you're here because we just want the best for you, and become the well-mannered canine that could be the face of the nation, alright?" she said with a pleading smile.

The diamond dog let out another sigh, this time sounding a bit more defeated, "Alright fine, but I'm only doing this for the PR, okay?"

The queen giggled at the defeated canine rebuttal, "Alright, as long as you're happy, that's all I want," she said with a pleading smile.

The mother turned away from her son, as muttered voices caught her attention, "Hmm, oh alright, alright- sorry honey I need to go, we're having Breakfast with Celestia in a few hours, but I'll be sure to call you back after okay?" The young dog nodded, "love you," she waved at him.

Adalrik rolled his eyes as he heard the caller, "You too," with that, the prince tapped on the bottom of the phone, ending the transmission. Adalriklet out another sigh as he stared at the window, "another morning in shit-town," he groaned once again in his mother tongue.

The prince turned over to see Sandbar look at him with a deadpan expression, "Oh great, you're up," he said with an annoyed tone.

"Good morning to you too, Rik" Sandbar greeted sarcastically.

Rik, ignoring the equines greeting, walked over to the closest to gather his soap and towels, "Look, let's just get this day over with alright, the less I have to be in the same room with you, the cleaner I stay, and less chance there is of me getting fleas or something else equally disgusting, the better,"

Sandbar glared at the prince for his comment, "I don't know what your damage is with this place, dude, Ponyville isn't some medieval hick town or anything, we have running water, restrooms, for Maker's sake, we have a spa only a few miles away,"

"And yet, your country was too stupid to utilize crystal power to its fullest potential," the rude prince spat back, much to the Earth Pony's frustration.

He then walked over to the door, "Look, I already have it bad enough that I have to spend my shower time with the rest of you flea-ridden flöhe, so let's not make this worse than this has to be, okay?" not waiting for the annoyed pony's response, Adalrik walked out of the door, and begrudgingly headed for the communal showers.

The moment he did, the prince was greeted by another, familiar, dog walked by him. Unlike most of the teachers and students here, this canine girl was someone he was very happy to see.

So much so, that he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt with a smirk on his face, "Well, good morning my little army beauty," he cooed in the same charming act he had used on countless other girls in his lifetime, "how are you, this fine day-!" before he could even finish that sly remark, the feminine dog with one quick motion, pulled Adalrik by the paw, and with much force, pulled him down to the ground with a heavy thud.

With her tight grip on the assailant, the female dog stared at her would-be attacker with fiery eyes.

But the second she saw the one who she had countered, the firm expression on her face quickly changed to one of shocked embarrassment. as her 'assailant' was someone who she was told to protect.

"Oh my Alpha, I'm so sorry," the startled canine said in surprise, as she released Adalrik's arm, and helped the stunned prince up, "Are you okay?"

Adalrik scoffed, "Oh yes," he began, "I was just thinking how I wanted my back cracked this morning before I even took a shower-thank you so much, Sophie" a sarcastic tone oozed from his mouth as he stared at her with eyes that could kill.

"Last time I checked, that uptight dad of your's told you to act as my bodyguard and last time I checked, bodyguards don't attack their employers!" he snarled at Sophie,

The brown german shepherd raised her arms in defense at the fuming noblemen, attempting to calm her down, "Bassza, I said I was sorry, no need to get upset," she refuted, with apologetic eyes.

While the prince's anger was still high, he did simmer down a bit.

After all, it wouldn't be like him to get so upset over the actions of some soon to be KIA soldier, right? Taking a bit of a breather Adalrik composed himself, "Alright," he groaned, "just be lucky that I'm in a bit of a good mood today, or else a certain General would be getting the shit end of the stick,"

Sophie gave the Siberian mix a questioning look, "why's that," she questioned, before becoming quickly defensive once Adalrik glared at her, "not that I'm complaining or anything,"

Adalrik's frown turned into a smirk, "Well, let's just say, I've got plans for a certain orange reptilian vixen, and they involve a little get together at a place in the capital, and if all goes well, let's say that a bit of burning would be totally worth it," he said with a sly wink.

The teen bodyguard rolled her eyes, It hadn't been a secret that Prince Adalrik had become quite infatuated with the orange dragon girl who hung out with Sandbar and his other friends. So much so that whenever, as he called it, catch the burn it ended with the usual sentiment of 'leave me alone', or, 'buzz off,' or she would just straight up threatened him.

Now as a bodyguard, Sophie should have probably reacted better to this, but as a girl who understands, it was funny to see a canine who had a fan club dedicated to him back home, get rejected by the dragon numerous times.

So much so, that the two teen girls became quite the pair of friends.

Before she could respond, the sound of hoof steps interrupted her thoughts as she turned to see a face that brought her much happiness.

"Is everything okay?" Sandbar asked with a greatly concerned tone, "Is sounded like something fell,"

"Why don't you ask gorilla paws over here," she commented, pointing over to the dog in question.

Sophie ignored the remark and walked up to the stallion with a warm smile "Just a little reflex from my training days," she admitted, as she ruffled the teen colt's mane, "if anything I'm just doing my job,"

Sandbar chuckled, "Well you have to give her some credit on that, Rik,"

Adalrik rolled his eyes, "Whatever," he sighed, "I need to go take a shower before the fleas get to it,"

"Alright," Sophie replied, "But remember what the Premier said about that 10 o'clock phone call, he said it was something really important message so be ready-"

Adalrik scoffed at the cautious demand, "I think you forget who you're talking to, I'm pretty sure whatever my brother has it's going to be the same boring bullshit he's told the public before,"

"Well, just be ready," Sophie replied.

"Whatever," with that last word, the face of the Hunderland Commonwealth left the odd couple on his way towards the shower room, hopeful that it was kept in healthy conditions.

Once the prince was gone, Sandbar let out a sigh, "Cripes, that guy's hassle," he groaned

"I know," Sophie commented, "but when it comes to diplomacy, he's got quite the knack for it. The guy's pretty smooth with other world leaders,"

"I guess, I mean, from what you told me about that signing between the Crystal Em- I mean, the Crystal Republic, he sounded pretty nice-" Sandbar turned in the direction where Adalrik walked off, "but I guess that's all just an act you'd expect from royalty, huh?"

She smirked, "Oh, you don't know the half of it,"

There was always something about the early morning atmosphere at school that seemed, tranquil. Maybe it was the openness and quietness of the halls, perhaps it was the rising sunlight that seemed through on to the carpeted rugs throughout the school, Or perhaps it was a combination of the two that made it seem so nice.

One thing was for sure though, Adalrik wouldn't dare question the atmosphere that Alpha had graced him with.

It was a sight that made him forget about the kingdom, about mom and dad, about his brother, about the politics and suck-ups in parliament, and in general, it made him forget his status for once moment.

For one moment, the young diplomat could just be alone.

Now that's not saying that he hated his position. He was quite proud of his royal heritage, especially his Great Grandsire who was probably the most respected figure in the country. He enjoyed the limo rides, the food, the mansion where he and his family stayed in, and especially his pick of women.

But for as long as Adalrik had lived, from such a young age, he saw just how ugly royalty can get on the political side of things.

The press conferences, the tabloid news article selling whatever bullshit they can to make a cost, and the seeping anger that would ooze from what every political party that held a modicum of power in parliament or the double-sidedness of some politicians saying whatever they want you to hear.

So it was no wonder why he took the position as the Hunderian diplomat. If you were in his position, wouldn't you?

With each trip to some country, he was given the chance to truly just sit back for a while, and relax. Or at least until the airship had to halt and land in a country that almost seemed eons behind the advanced kingdom, but it was relaxing nonetheless.

The silence that Adalrik had so long enjoyed, was quickly ruined by a familiar ring that escaped from his crystal telecommunicator. Alpha dammit, what now, he growled, before begrudgingly checking the name on the small device and subsequently groaned before answering the call.

As much as he wanted to hand up, Adalrik knew he had to call back. After all, why act so cold to a new ally right? "What," He groaned, as a familiar but appeared on before him

The mare on the other end seemed surprised that the prince would pick-up, reacting with a shocked 'oh', "Rik, hey," the mare greeted, "I wasn't expecting you to pick up so soon. I thought that, you know, with school and everything-"

"Get to the point," Adalrik quickly interrupted the girl on the other end, "I have a lot to get done today,"

"Still as blunt as ever I see," she jested, before she explained herself, "right, I was just calling about, what happened that night, about two months back,"

"You mean the night you swore me to never talk about?" He sarcastically replied.

The mare let out another sigh, "Um, yeah," she admitted.

"What about it?"

"It's just," she began, a sense of shame could be heard in her voice, "It's just, I don't know why, but ever since that night, I can't stop thinking about it, about you,"

Adalrik's eyebrows raised in suspicion at the last sentence. Almost two months back, while she and her cohorts stayed at a hotel to attend a conference between the Premier and the Prime Minister, she and the young prince became quite...acquainted with one another.

It was a night that, for the two of them, was incurable from the mind. But for her, it was a night that she wanted to pretend never happened. So it was quite odd for her, who pleaded with the prince to keep that dar moment a secret, to talk about it at all.

With this suspicion, Adalrik pegged the hypocritical princess, "Oh Alpha's sake, don't tell me your gonna leave your husband for me,"

"W-what! No, I would never," she exclaimed, "I love my husband with all my heart, I mean for Maker's sake we have a child to think about. Not only that, but I don't think there would be a lot of positive press for somepony like me to divorce her husband,"

"Then why are you bringing that night back up?" The prince questioned.

The mare paused, as a sense of shame and embarrassment washed over her, before she finally replied, "It's just that, I can't get you out of my mind," she said with deep shame in her voice, "No matter how many times I lie with my husband, how many times I try to love him and care for him, I keep thinking back to it."

Adalrik, hearing her excitement, smirked, "So what, are you suggesting we..." he paused, waiting for the mare to finish his insinuation, only for her to reply with a sharp 'no'. he rolled his eyes at her stern answer, he could care more or less about her, "Then what is it?"

"Look," she began, "I was just thinking, for one last time, the two of us just meet together, maybe by seeing you one last time, I'll have some kind of- I'm not sure what the right word for it is- closer on this whole situation,"

"Meet up?" the dog questioned.

"Yeah, I was thinking that maybe something within me, will stop these feelings. Like one last get together or something," she explained.

"So in other words, a date," the Siberian deadpanned, much to the mare's annoyance.

"No, it's just a meeting, nothing more, nothing less," the mare stated, "I just want this to end, and maybe then, things could go back to normal,"

Adalrk scoffed, "Don't sound so dramatic, you and I both have seen our fair share of affairs," the canine said slyly with a smirk that would put Blueblood to shame.

"Don't make it seem like we're on the same page, Rik," she scolded the dog harshly, "Even when I saw it for myself, I was disgusted by it, and having it happen to us doesn't make it any better!"

"Alright, der'mo," Kel cursed, attempting to calm the upset mare, "fine, so where do you wanna meet? Because if we're going anywhere, it's gotta be on my terms, understand?"

"Well, from what I heard from one of your maid ponies when I visited yesterday that you were throwing this party at your mansion," The mare admitted, much to his surprise.

The simple mention of the party was quite odd to him, as the only ones he told about it were some of his old school mates, a small number of the students here, and two leaders from different countries who, considering his similarities to them, would have made a good fit for his party.

Although he told several creatures, he made sure that anypony outside of the kingdom would keep it a secret, as it was an exclusive party.

I'm gonna fucking fire, Golden Wind, Adalrik growled, as the second he got home, he would make sure that the pegasus maid would be done for. Shaking off that irritation, he responded: "Yeah, so what?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe it would be the perfect place for us to get together, and talk things out. I have a transformation spell, so I would be able to turn myself into a different pony so no one gets suspicious, would that work?"

Adalrik paused for a second, as he thought through the idea. Honestly, he never quite cared for the mare. After all, he did what he needed just to get those damned agreements at the conference. Like the mare said, nothing more, and nothing less.

Not to mention, having someone like her at the party would have killed the vibe entirely.

But, getting this mare off his back, might to him some good. After their physical encounter, she seemed to call him as if they were dating, asking him how his day was, what he was doing, asking if he wanted to 'hang-out' at the palace. Adalrik was many things; a suave prince who lived quite the lavish lifestyle, a stylish dresser, and if anything, a wiz when it came to history. But one thing was for sure, he was not a one bitch kind of dog.

Quietly regretting the decisions, he agreed, "Alright, fine, you can come," the dog said with a groan.

The mare sighed in relief at his answer, "Thank you, Rik, you have no idea how much this means to me,"

"Yeah sure, whatever," the prince mumbled, "look, I need to hit the showers, so unless you have anything else to say, then say it,"

"No that's all," the mare replied with a relieved, yet anxious tone.

Finally, the prince thought joyously, as he was about to end the call. However, the mare stopped him once again "Wait," she said, much to the prince's annoyance.

"What?" the dog groaned, as he waited for her response with as much enthusiasm as a mortician.

For what seemed like the third time, the mare paused as though she was thinking. After a solid second, she finally replied, "N-nothing" she lied, "just, have a good day,"

The prince simply muttered out a 'you too,' before officially ending the call.

Once it was all said and done, he let out another sigh, Can't wait to get this shit over with, he thought, as he continued his way towards the showers.

Two years...Two years, Twenty-Four months, Seven Hundred and Twenty days, seventeen thousand and two hundred and eighty hours, and one million, thirty-six thousand, and eight hundred minutes. That is how long it had been, how long it took for her to have everything she worked hard for, taken just like that.

From the time she was a simple wyrm, her mother, as cold-no, as bleak as the was, the mare had high hopes for her and her kingdom. As much as she could, her mother did everything to make her into the most powerful changeling, to walk the face of this world.

And on the day of her mother's death, she sought to see that plan in fruition; raising her armies, and training strong changelings to be the future of her kingdom. For Chrysalis, she wanted nothing more than to make her mother proud.

However, on one, single, day, it too no more than four beings to take down everything she had worked hard to build.

The kingdom she rose, the changelings she taught, the love she gathered.

All gone in one. Single. Day.

Now because of that, the changeling Queen, who had thousands of subjects at her beckoning call, was reduced to talking to a small snail she had found in the grotesquely green home the ponies called the Everfree.

This place was not fit for a Queen, a ruler forced to survive off of the wild animals she would encounter to feast, was nothing for a queen.

But the thought of having to turn herself over to the ponies, and share her love. She would rather have her wings ripped off of her than live with Twilights minions, the snake-like traitor, and her so- her traitorous subject.

She would never back down, and soon, she would have her revenge, and it would be swift.

As the ghastly glow of the Equestrian sun got brighter, the former Queen walked off to the more shaded areas of the forest, where she had found quite the spot for her feasting.

Along with this feasting circle, there were some miscellaneous objects strewn about. Just some rocks, grass, a few items the mare would use, want envisioning her plan to conquer Equestria once and for all.

While she was never one for planning, after all, that's something her subjects would- could, do. She was not completely oblivious in her planning methods. Even though she never found the time to do it, she would devise a plan that would finally bring an end to those ponies, especially the minion of Twilight Sparkle.

As she walked over to her spot, she completely stopped, as the sounds of new voices and ruffing grass caught the mare's attention.

Rather than hide, the mare turned to see who these new trespassers were, and how much love she needed from them.

However, the moment she turned, she was greeted by a new face, "Howdy there miss Chrysalis," a young pink filly greeted with a sickeningly sweet smile. In her honesty, Chrysalis was quite confused as to why this single filly was alone, despite the other voice she could hear.

However, the former simply dismissed it as her father, who went off to do whatever ponies do. But that wasn't the only thing.

What caught the Queen's attention was that simple fact that this little filly was seeming, unperturbed by the black queen. Unlike most fillies her age, she was rather calm.

Chrysalis stared at the filly with suspecting eyes, "Why aren't you running away?" the former queen questioned.

The small filly simply giggled at the suspicious question, "Oh miss Chrysalis," the filly began, "I'm much more different than those other-"

"Queen," Chrysalis interrupted with a stern look, "it is Queen Chrysalis, you imp,"

The pink filly tilted her head with a quizzical look as if the former ruler had spoken to her in another language, "Queen?" the filly questioned.

"Yes, Queen," the mare emphasized, "and I would demand that you title me as such! Child or not, I demand your utmost respect, unless you wish to see my bad side!"

Once the former queen was finished, the small pink filly simply stared at her with a blank expression for what seemed like a full minute. Even to somepony like Chrysalis, the emotionlessness on the young filly's face felt off, as if she was possessed by another being or saw something so shocking she was in a trance-like state.

The emotion that she was feeding off from her was...unexplainable, it wasn't sour, sweet, salty, spicy, gamey, or anything. It was completely devoid of flavor.

Who is this filly? Chrysalis pondered.

Before the Queen could respond, the blank-faced filly exploded in laughter, starting with a small giggle and quickly growing into a full-blown chortle as she pointed as mocked the insect mare, "Queen she says!" the pink child guffawed, as she laughed harder.

As the filly continued to laugh, Chrysalis stared daggers at the distracted child and slowly began approaching her, "What's so funny?" the mare demanded.

The filly, desperate for some air, took in some deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down, "It's just," she gasped, "It's just that, well, look at you! Last I checked, royal ponies don't live out in the woods or have to hunt for their own food, yet here you are doing it, and you want me to call you a Queen!" The filly busted out another laugh, seemingly louder than the last one.

Chrysalis was no longer amused. In fact, she was broiling at the scene before her; she's had her kingdom taken from her, he subjects abandon her, and her most traitorous subject taking her place as King.  
But for this insolent filly to laugh at someone like her, was the final point.

Enraged by the filly's laughter, Chrysalis horn glowed a sickly bright green, as she was about to show the distracted filly just who she was talking to.

However, before she could act, a sudden shock wave coursed through her body, a wave that she had never once experience in her life.

The second it hit, two things happened. First, the insolent filly, stopped her laughing dead in her tracks, as she finally stood up, and stared at the mare with a smirk. A kind of smirk seemingly gave away more than what needed to be said.

The second thing was the absolutely drained feeling she felt, as her body became limp, and she fell to the ground with a painful thud. What in the world?! The shocked queen pondered, as her chin hit the grassy ground.

"Geez, took you long enough," the filly groaned, as she looked off in the opposite direction, "my throat was starting to get sore from all that laughing. God, now I know how Pinkie feels,"

"Quiet," a new voice, possibly belonging to the one who paralyzed her, replied," I only did what needs to be done, I'm not your lapdog,"

The filly simply rolled her eyes, "Whatever," she muttered.

The smirking filly then walked over to the paralyzed changeling, who had an absolute expression of rage," Aw, what wong? Wittle changeling feelwing weak"

Chrysalis growled at the filly, "Do not mock me you worm!" she roared, "I don't know who you are-" she then turned to see the attacker, who appeared to be a rather large muscular centaur but that did not scare the strong, fiery, Queen, "or you, but both of you have no idea who you're messing with!"

The filly's eyes widened, "Oh, we don't?" she asked in feigned shock, "did you hear that mister Tirek, we don't know who she is!"

The male centaur stayed quiet, wanting nothing to do with the situation.

The young filly turned back to Chrysalis with large, innocent eyes, "Gee, I sure am sorry your lordship," the filly apologized, which only seemed to enrage the changeling more as she could taste the mockery in her voice, "I didn't know anything about you,"

"Gee, I wonder how I can get to know you better?" the filly questioned.

The emotionally undefining filly rubbed her chin with a thoughtful look, as she was seemingly unaware of what was going on below her.

Insolent pest, the Queen thought to herself with a smirk, as she slowly began to find her strength to rise from the ground, and show this little pest what for.

Just as her face lifted a few inches off the ground, the filly's eyes widened with a look of absolute joy, "AH, I got it!" she shouted in excitement, catching the paralyzed queen off guard. With a swift move, the pink filly turned from the confused queen, and using all of her might-BANG- bucked Chrysalis right in the face as hard as she could.

Now, the action of kicking the Queen across the face was not what bewildered Chrysalis, nor surprised the muscular centaur.

It was the fact that such a small filly like her, had managed to kick the Queen a good few feet away. Causing said former ruler to land square on her back with a pained and shocked expression as the thought of What on Equus! returned to her.

Once again, that bewilderment was replaced by rage, as Chrysalis noticed the small, yet powerful fill, walk towards her, "I've got an idea!" the filly exclaimed. The filly proceeds to get on top of the Queen's stomach and inched closer to her until the two were a few mere inches away.

"How about we do, beat mysteries," the filly suggested, "I'll tell you something I know about you and just stop me when I say something wrong,"

"Beat mysteries?" the Queen repeated, her seething anger still growing, "What are you blathering-!" before she could even finish her thought, the filly struck the changeling across the face with a hard punch.

Now, while most royals would simply cry at such an attack, or call of one of their little guards, Chrysalis was far different than any Queen in a different country. She was a strong mare, who built and strengthened her Empire with little help from anyone else. She knew how to save herself and she knew just what to do with those that defied her.

And this little filly would be no different.

Quickly recovering from the punch, Chrysalis spat out a dark green liquid and turned to the filly with an expression that would send even the toughest of fighters to their graves, "How dare you!" she growled.

The filly seemed to ignore her rage, and continued speaking, "Let's see, you're formerly known as Queen Chrysalis-" she struck the queen again.

"You invaded Canterlot a long, long time ago-" the filly struck again, this time, getting a bit of blood from the enraged queen, "but you were defeated by Twilight and her little buddies, along with her boring sister-" strike, "and her dopey husband-" She struck harder.

The anger in Chrysalis quickly began to rise as the filly continued this game, but that anger would simply go to waste, as her body was paralyzed by the odd magic that attacked her.

Along with that rage, a strange new feeling rose within the queen, she wasn't quite sure of it, but she knew that it was the oddness of the situation that caused it.

For someone like her to be bloodied by such a small, one-winged filly, it was ungodly. It was unruly. It wasn't what she had sought as a Queen.

Despite those thoughts, The filly continued with her torturous game, "You ran back to your kingdom, to build yourself up, but-" she struck harder, as specks of blood could be seen on her small hoof, "In the end, your own son, went against you, and joined up with a pony who-"

"Stop," The queen growled at the forceful filly, who seemed to do as the queen said and stared back at her with inquisitive eyes.

The young filly tilted her head, "Oh, did I get something wrong?"

Chrysalis smirked at the 'confused' filly. Even if she couldn't use much of her magic, she could still sense the young foal's pathos energy, and from what it tasted like, it was a complete lie from her emotions.

At least, she had one upper-hoof on the soon to be eviscerated filly before her, "Yes," Chrysalis hissed, "You mentioned my 'son'. You may have gotten a few things right, but one clear fact you've seem to forget is that my son died the day my kingdom was taken over!"

"Really," the filly asked, faking concern for the queen who had no need for it.

"Yes," she replied darkly with a smirk, "my son died after you ponies came and destroyed my kingdom,"

"Everything I worked hard for, all my subjects, died on that damned day. So unfortunately for you, you're wrong!" With that final proclamation, a tense silence befell the forest.

Besides the sound of roaming animals and small insects, the forest was quiet, and the pink filly's flavor was neutral once more.

In that silence, Something happened to Chrysalis, she wasn't sure what it was, or hos it happened, but within her, she felt her throat closing up, her vision began to waver, and her body felt an odd jolt as those harsh words left her mouth.

It was a truth that she, for the longest time, tried to get over. Yet, no matter how much time went by, those words stung worse than any mite bite she would receive.

Nonetheless, they were words that need to be said, and they were words that would make a mockery out of this daring filly.

However, rather than seeing this filly tense up, from her act, and cower like the many equines before her. An odd smile grew on the filly's face, and a slightly sour taste made its way into the former queen's mouth, " You know what Chrissy," the filly mocked, "you're right, he isn't your son,"

Chrysalis continued to stare at the sour filly with suspicious, yet confused, eyes.

Despite her powers, the queen still wasn't quite sure what to make of this filly, as the largely bland flavor that emanated from her made her being a mystery.

But, that was not important to Chrysalis now. What mattered most was finding the right time to-

"Because a real mom wouldn't abandon her children,"

The powerless queen's mind seemed to stop the moment that sour filly spat those words. Those words which allowed that warm feeling to rise within her, those words that were nothing more than venomous lies, "What," chrysalis hissed, as a wave of boiling anger rose within her, "What did you just say,"

The filly smile grew, as she noticed the quiver in the Queen's voice, "I said," she then proceeded to punch the mare harder this time, as fresh new blood began to pool by on to the black mares shiny chest, "A real mom would never abandon her child-" the daring filly inched closer to the face of the bloody mare, "A mother would do anything to protect her child, and stay with them till the very end-" she struck the mare again, this time bits of green blood got on to the violent filly's face, "yet here you are, in the woods, alone."

Chrysalis, despite her grotesque appearance, glared at the filly, "H-how dare you," the mare quivered, as her boiling rage toppled, spilling a broth of pure anger, "How fucking dare you!"

"How fucking dare I?" the filly repeated mockingly, "I'm just saying what you're trying to say-" she inched closer to the enraged queen's face, Not only are you a bad ruler," she smiled widely "you're a terrible mother,"

Chrysalis had endured many things through her life that would have upset even the toughest of rulers. Having her throne- her home taken from her, he subjects abandon her, and even once again, being defeated by once again by those devious sextuplets. That was all she could take.

But the absolute audacity of his filly no, this pest, to tell her such awful lies, that was it. She did what she had to for her kingdom, she raised most of the wyrmlings as if they were her own, she cared for her subjects like any good mother would.

And yet, here is this filly telling such venomous lies to her blood-covered face. She would never stand for this!

"I-" she stuttered, as a wave of raged built through her, "You little, brat! How dare-"

SMACK-"Don't lie to me!" the filly growled at the enraged changeling, as another punched struck her, No matter how many times you say it, you can't blind yourself to the truth," SMACK, "You're a shitty mother, who would rather watch her children die than protect them-" SMACK

"You more willing to kill your own son-" SMACK "Just at a shot of taking back the throne,"

Taking another breath, Chrysalis tried to rebut, but before she could even speak, another strike came her way, "Don't say, "that's a lie!' because a shitty mare like you would take the chance if it was there!"

The brave filly continued with her assault as with each punch, as another drop of blood oozed from the former ruler, "It's no wonder why King Thorax likes the ponies better; they're the mom he never got a chance to have," SMACK, "and probably only ever be," she said with a strained voice, as the energy in her began to wind down.

With one last punch, The pink filly looked back at her work with a small devious smile. The amount of blood she was able to get from the former ruler was quite fun. Possibly, a good workout for anyone who had som steam to let out.

Taking a breath, the filly's 'innocent' smile grew once again, "Alright," she sighed, "now, say it,"

Chrysalis, who faces had been bloodied to a point where good portions of her face were green, glared at the filly with dark eyes, "s-say what," she growled,

That single sentence alone quickly irritated the filly, and with a swift motion, punched the irate changeling, "Say what you really are, a bad mom,"

The filly's demand went unanswered, as the former queen silently looked off from her. However, that only angered Cozy more, "Say it!" she yelled, as another punch hit the mare square in the chest.

Chrysalis said nothing, and looked off,

SMACK- "say it!" she yelled again, as the second wave of hits came across the mares face, "say how shitty of a mom you are!"

"s-stop it," the changeling mare stuttered, as a liquid emotion formed at the corner of her eye.

That weak plea did not stop the filly's assault, SMACK SMACK "Say, how you abandoned your children-"

"Stop-!"

SMACK SMACK "Say how even parasites are more forgiving parents that you-"

"ALRIGHT!" the mare bellowed, as tears began to stream down her bruised cheeks "I'm an awful mother! Is that what you wanted to hear you damn mistake! I'm a terrible mother...I-I'm a terrible mother," As those words left her mouth, Chrysalis was done. She wasn't sure what hurt worse, the pain of this little filly's punches, or the pain of the truth she wanted to leave behind.

Either way, hee filled once again with that warm filling, only this time, it grew colder the more it rose.

Looking back up at the filly, her glaring eyes filling gleaming from her tears, she spoke, "there," she said with a sore voice, "I said it, is that what you wanted, to see me break, well here's your prize!"

For a full minute, Cozy stared at the mare with another blank expression, as if her mind was piecing together her next move. Rather than reply, the filly removed herself from the beaten mare's chest and walked over to the muscular centaur, who seemed to be staring off from the whole ordeal.

While Chrysalis was confused by the filly's sudden departure, a familiar smile grew on the changeling's face. It was quite foolish of the girl to simply walk off from the mare with her back behind her, but it was something that Chrysalis was much excited to see.

After all the pain she had put her though, the lies she had spat at the queen, the mockery she had made of herself, this would be it. After all, all those tears were fake, a simple act to make the filly think she had the upper hand in this little game of wits.

But this queen would not be bested by this small mistake. Not now, not ever.

Before Chrysalis began to move, she looked over at the duo, who appeared to be having quite a heated conversation as the centaur stared at the filly with disgusted eyes.

"I'm not doing that!" the centaur rebutted.

"Oh come on mister Tirek, you've sucked the literal life from ponies, and nearly destroyed all of Equestria, what makes this so bad?" The filly spoke with an innocent, yet irritated, look.

The centaur, who was known as Tirek, sighed deeply, "As I have said before, Cozy, such work is below me. I would only have my minions do such a ghastly-"

"Oh for fuck's sake," the filly named Cozy groaned, "Would you stop with that, oh holier than now shit, you've attacked villages, destroyed towns, taken the magic, a lifeforce for many in Equestria by the way, out of every creature out there, and yet you won't do this because it's 'below you? Give me a break,"

Tirek glared at the filly with great anger in his eyes, from the looks of it, the beast getting quite tired of the young foal's mouth. "If you wish to continue to mock me you're only-"

"What? Quickening my death," the filly interjected, which only further angered the red beast.

Before Tirek could respond, the filly let out a small chuckle, "Mister Tirek, why are you such an imbecile?"

The Centaur's eyes widened with shock at Cozy's insult, his fist tightened, as e looked ready to strike the filly right here and now. "H-how dare you!" the centaur shouted, which seemed to elicit a small chuckle from the filly.

"Gee, it seems like everyone is saying that today," she jested, with a sly smile, "look Tirek, he's something you need to understand and understand now. Killing me is nothing more than a waste of time," she stated rather calmly, "It's a waste of my time, your time-" Cozy pointed over the bruised changeling, "and especially her time.

"So if you really wanna kill me, be my guest, but you're only going to screw yourself over even more,"

Tirek scoffed at the filly's threatening words, "Are trying to scare me?" he asked sarcastically, "don't make me laugh, I've taken down Equestria once without you-" Tirek lowered down to the pink filly, "what makes you think I need you?"

As he asked that, a thoughtful look crossed Cozy's face. He wasn't wrong, the centaur was quite large and from what the changeling saw, he was quite powerful.

how indeed, would this small, one-winged fill, stop this red bulking beast?

All it took was one sentence, "Well, what if I just ran out of the Evefree and called us out?"

Those words, as soon as they left Cozy's mouth, quickly caught the beast's attention, "W-what?" Tirek questioned with a stutter, as he was somewhat bewildered by her threat.

"Well Mister Tirek, look at it this way," she continued, "I'm a small, cute little filly, and you're a bulking monster who tried to conquer all of Equestria. Now I know, I did too, but what's to stop me from saying all of that was your doing?"

"You wouldn't," Tirek growled

"All I have to do is run out there, scream from the top of my lungs with tears coming down my face, and say that not only was the break out your idea-" the devious filly pointed over to the bleeding Chrysalis again- "and not only did you beat up a poor defenseless mare, but," in a quick second, Cozy's smile dropped, and soon, a flood of tears streamed from her eyes, "y-you, assaulted a poor innocent filly, who bent to your every whim! How could you!" The filly continued her faux display of tears, each cry faker than the next.

By this point, Tirek was much less enraged by the Cozy but much more disgusted with the filly than anything.

True, the centaur them had used his fair share of deception and trickery to get what they wanted, but what this little filly was doing, was something that felt wrong.

it was something that was seemingly different in his brand of evil. Something that was...just different.

Noticing the centaurs disgust, Cozy returned to her happy demeanor with a quick switched of her smile, "I want you to understand something Tirek, Equestria, isn't so gung-ho about foal death, what makes you think they'll let you live if they found out you violated a little filly like me?"

Tirek fist began to shake in disgust at the crazed filly's display, even after Discord, never in his life, had he seen such a gross display of deception and evil. This was the kind of evil he hated with every fiber of his being, it was a kind of evil he could not stand for one bit!

"Tirek, this isn't your time, this isn't your plan, and I won't have someone like you messing it up. No matter what you do or say, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not, because even if you kill me, not only would you be lying to yourself, you'd end up in an early grave," Cozy said with a cold smirk.

Tirek glared hot daggers at the devious little filly. It was one thing to be barked at and commanded like some dog, but to be threatened in such a manner, and to be threatened to do something so obscene!

This was disgust in its purest form.

"You putrid imp," the centaur growled in anger, "I will never forgive you for this,"

Cozy smiled, "I love you too," she jested, "now, do what I said," she demanded smugly.

For a full minute, Tirek stared at the filly with a pure sense of anger, before begrudgingly doing as she said. Without another word, the red centaur walked away from the smiling filly and made his way to the now confused changeling.

Tirek looked at the beaten changeling with regretful, yet stern eyes. The last thing that he muttered as a quick, 'i'm sorry' before he picked up the bewildered mare, and threw her over his shoulder.

"W-what are you doing!" Chrysalis shouted in irate shock, as she began to beat on the bulking beast back. She turned to the pink filly who simply waved at the two departing villans, with a smile "What's going on, I did as you said! Where are you taking me!"

Cozy simply giggled at the deposed queen's fretful cries, "don't worry Miss Chrysalis," she lied, "I just want to make sure you're on our side, so mister Tirek is going to give you a little, love lesson," she said with a sinful wink.

With those final words, the centaur continued his shameful walk into the Everfree words, as the weak changeling mare began to beat on the beast back, harder and harder, in resistance to her approaching demies. Within the woods of the Everfree, Chrysalis would lose something that day.

That day, Chrysalis lost the very thing that made her who she was.

Her motherhood.


	4. The First Week of Forever Pt.2

Today, was just like any other day.

As the early morning sky turned from a rustic orange to a nice clear blue, the late sleepers and early birds at the School of Friendship would begin their day just like any other. Throughout the academy, the sounds of various hoofsteps and chatter filled the dormitories and school halls of the academy, as the school of nearly a thousand students were ready to begin the day.

One such early bird, however, rather than go about speaking to the students, went about his day walking the academy halls with his face deep in the confines of a book, and himself within the nearly empty room of the school's library.

At the furthest table of the library, taking a seat at one fo the red oak tables that were stationed about the floor of the large room. A young, quite sharp looking green drake, read the pages of a red book that looked to have seen better days.

The young drake's eyes scanned the yellow tinted paper of the pages, as he re-read the sentences and words he had read countless times before.

_"On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components"_ The drake read internally, as he continued to read down the pages of the book.

This was a book that, as long as he could remember, was something quite comforting to read. A book based in both fiction and reality, it was something that kept his mind clear, while also keeping it busy.

While he had received his punishment for not returning the book back, it was worth the world opening view he received from the novel. As well as the ability to avoid speaking with those who he wasn't supposed to know.

It was a nice escape from the sewage of noise that would spill out in his hometown. The constant sounds of bickering, and violence, and death, it all seemed to be phased out by this little book, as well as the helpful background noise of the local diner that seemed to enjoy his style of music just as much as him.

There truly was nothing like a day where he could just read his book in peace, as the sweet sounds of Flank Sinatra or Hobby Darlin, and the words of that novel take him away.

No matter what anyone said, for the green drake, it was true bliss for him.

As the drake was about to turn the page, the sound of approaching footsteps and chatter broke his bliss, _It, couldn't last forever,_ he groaned, as he quickly closed the book just as the approaching voiced made their way into his sanctuary.

"-and so basically, I beat the shit outta him, and told him, next time you wanna mess with me think twice asshole!" The young white Persian exclaimed boastfully, as he seemed to be in the middle of yet another tall tale of his time in the Sin City of Las Pegasus.

While most of the Persian's audience, including the green drake, wasn't quite immersed with the story, a certain hippogriff mare seemed quite interested, "wow," Silverstream gasped in surprise, while the griffon to her right rolled his eyes with great disinterest, "I had no idea Las Pegasus was so, tough"

The white Persian smirked with pride, "well hey, it may be tough out there, but-" he flexed his nonexistent muscles, "I'm tougher,"

"Yeah, cause I'm totally sure you could take on three minotaurs in a fight," The azure griffon deadpanned.

That statement seemed to wipe the large smirk off of the Persian's face, as he glared at the griffon rooster, "I-i could too," he quickly rebutted, "I remember going down to convenient store one night, and a gang of halfies was up there to beat me up me, but they didn't know I had my 'pis'ol out, and show 'em who's who of Las Pegasus,"

"First off," The dull blue minotaur cow to the left of Silverstream began, her tone like that of a scolding teacher "I'm pretty sure calling Minotaurs 'halfies', is considered offensive by pretty much everyone, and secondly " she continued, "if that really did happen, then let's see it,"

"S-see what?" The Persian said nervously.

"Your pistol?" Gallus questioned, "you always said you 'never go home without it,' so where is it?"

The Persian cat's nervous expression weakened, as a small smile etched into his mouth, "Tch, are you serious? You think I'd bring it here?" the white cat questioned with a scoff.

"From what I've heard you say, you seem really fond of it,"

"Pfft, no way, I keep it in my room back home. It's not like I care or anything, but if the alicorn bitch or my uncle found out, I'll probably end up getting a lecture, and I really don't feel like getting blood on my hands"

As the Persian said that, while the other listened with skeptical ears, Silverstream became greatly confused by his colorful words, "Wait, I thought you said that you kept it in your dorm in case of another incident like what happened last year,"

Once again, the smug smile on the short Persian's face was wiped off as soon as that memory returned. The Persian began to stutter a bit, as he tried to keep up his style, "W-well," he began, as the two cynical teens, and an increasingly confused hippogriff, looked at him with awaiting eyes, "you see, I uh, I meant my other dorm,"

_Right,_ the green drake thought to himself, as he heard the cat's deepening lie. The young green drake left the chair, and, as quietly as he could, tried to make his way out of the library.

As silly as it may seem, the drake tip-toed through the pathways of bookshelves in order to not be heard by the four, and with much ease, he almost made it over to the back exit of the room.

However, just as he was a few feet from the door, a crackling sound not only alerted the four but the sneaking dragon as well, _What the hell,_ he thought, as he looked down to see the alarm that set him off.

It was nothing more than a mear candy wrapper.

While to many, it was nothing butch trash, but to the dragon, he became quickly familiar with the wrapping cove.

As well as who it came from.

The green drake let out a long sigh, _Bahamut dammit, Professor Pie,_ he cursed to himself.

The second the sound was heard, everyone in the room turned their attention over to the sneaking drake. While this was a nightmare for the dragon, this was a godsend, "Yo, 'Lan," The Persian greeted, as a small sense of relief washed over him, "how's it goin'!"

Golan let out yet another sigh, as he heard the greeting of not just the loud Persian, but of the others as well.

For what seemed like an umpteenth time, he had to deal with people that he shouldn't have known.

"Oh, hey Gol'," Silverstream greeted excitedly.

_Great, another morning of this,_ the dragon groaned.

Golan was never one for idle talk, the simple morning chatter that he had been accustomed to was something that was a trial enough for him already.

It was one thing to have Mayor Steel Mill to force him in attending the school that was hell enough, but having to interact with the other students because of this school's principles was another kind of torture.

So for the past days, he's been subjected to a number of small simple greetings that were expected of a school like this.

As well as the general small talk of the townsponies he had to endure whenever he went out to eat.

This was one of the main reasons why he spent most of his time inside the library of walking about the school grounds at night in order to truly enjoy the silence.

But of course, there was always something or someone that would ruin that enjoyment.

But, none of that mattered. After all, there's no point in talking to those you're not supposed to know.

Not even muttering a quick good morning, Golanmade his way out of the room, leaving the four with empty greetings.

Gallus chuckled, "Well, that went pretty much how I expected,"

"Dido," the minotaur cow added.

Despite the two's seemingly nonchalant reactions, the Persian cat glared at the empty space where Golan stood, "man, what's with that guy," he groaned, "like seriously, this is the only time I've actually seen him look at anyone,"

"He's probably still getting used to the school," Silveratream suggested, "I mean, I know what it's like to be new to a whole new place,"

"Yeah, but that was on the first or second day," Gallus refuted, " it's been almost a week and a half, and he's still acting like an asshole,"

"Hey, be nice," the purple hippogriff scolded, "you acted the same way during the first few days of school,"

"Whoa, don't say it like I was the only one," Gallus rebutted defensively, "if anything, it was Smolder who used to be way more of a bitch than me,"

"Used to?" the Persian repeated sarcastically which got him quite the glare from the minotaur beside him.

"She might be a bitch, but at least she's honest," the cow rebutted, "and at least she's not some loud-mouthed wannabe loser, like you"

That small smirk on the Persian's face was quickly wiped off by the minotaur's spat, and a look of anger was across his face, "Hey, who the hell you think you're talkin' to, bitch?"

"You're just proving her point," Gallus chuckled, much to the Persian's frustration.

The short Persian scoffed at the sharp comment, "Whatever, anyway," the cat continued, "where is that chick anyway? You two always seem to be lezing out somewhere in the school,"

The minotaur sneered at the short Persian before answering his question, "I actually don't know," she admitted, "I woke up this morning and she wasn't in our dorm, I just thought that she went to use the shitter or something,"

Silver turned to the mare with a confused expression, "Really," she questioned, "I thought I saw her go near the far-back of the school?"

"The far-back?" The cow inquired.

"Yeah, I remember I was about to go to the pool, to do my morning routine, and on my way, I saw her pass by me."

After hearing that, an inquisitive look came across Gallus' face, "Huh, I wonder where she was going?"

* * *

The hours at the academy before class were hours that, for many, were the final moments of relaxation for those who were still trying to get over the early morning slowness of waking up. While most were talking to their friends, eating at the cafeteria, or just spending a few more minutes in their dorm rooms for late work.

For one certain prince, it was a moment to himself before he had to endure whatever the smalltown school had to throw at him.

As he walked the halls of the back, the sound of an opening door caught his attention, _What was that?_ Adalrik pondered, as he walked around the corner, not because he cared, but just to make sure that it wasn't one of his professors.

Looking around the corner, that rising feeling of regret soon turned to excitement, as his eyes laid on a certain orange dragoness who had just walked out of what he assumed was one of the classrooms, readjusted her clothing. The second she walked out' Adalrik's licked his lips, _Well, looks like my day is finally getting better,_ he thought, as he walked up to the unsuspecting dragon without a second thought.

As sneaky as he was, his silent approach was broken the second the orange dragoness looked up from her clothing, to see a familiar face. However, unlike him, there was a strong look of annoyance the moment she saw him, _Oh great,_ she lamented as the prince walked up to her.

"Well well well," he cooed with a sinful smile, "fancy meeting you here my ruze~"

"What do you want, Adalrik?" she groaned.

The prince let out a playful chuckle, "Oh nothing," he fibbed, "it's just that seeing your stunning beauty could help me forget about having to stay in this backwoods town-" he scanned the dragoness' body, "and I was right,"

Smolder furrowed her brow, "For fuck's sake," she groaned, as she was about to turn away from the lust-filled canine and continue on her way.

The moment she turned, Adalrik quickly exclaimed, luckily gaining the annoyed dragon's attention, "H-hold on now, I was just playing. For Alpha's can't you take a joke?"

"When it comes to someone like you, not really," Smolder sneered.

The prince rolled his eyes at her, "Whatever," he replied, "anyways, what I really wanted to talk to you about, is my party,"

"Your party?" the dragon parroted suspiciously.

He let out a sly chuckle, "Well, my uncle is out of town, and so he let me house sit for him in the capital. Of course, with my birthday coming up, I saw an opportunity to- how you say- not let a good opportunity go to waste?"

Smolder hummed nonchalantly, hoping for the conversation to end. Adalrik then proceeded to pull a paper card from his blue aviator jacket, "anyways-" he continued, as he handed the note over to Smolder, who took it with a skeptical look, "since you constantly refuse to accept the cri-phone I got you, here's a little invitation to my "get together","

Taking the card, Smolder read it. Not because she wanted to go, far from it, she read it simply out of curiosity. "THIS ONCOMING OCTOBER CELEBRATE THE BIRTH, GREATNESS, AND ADULTHOOD OF PRINCE ADALRIK THE IV WITH THE CANINE HIMSELF.

_Even his invitations are pretentious,_ Smolder snarkily thought, as she closed the card and looked back at the smiling prince.

"Well~" he sang, almost excitedly awaiting her answer.

Smolder let out a sigh, it had possibly been the nth time in which the royal canine had harassed. It almost seemed like for the past few days he's been here, every interaction with him ended with some kind of sly comment about sex, and trying to, quote-unquote, get in the dragoness' pants on a daily basis.

Even though she had already told the goading dog a number of times to, 'piss off', that demand seems to fall to deaf ears.

And so, once again, Smoulder found herself, being goaded.

"Look Rik, even if I wanted to go to your party, I can't," Smolder responded, although the persistent canine did not seem upset by the answer, "I have to go to Headmare Twilight's coronation that month,"

As soon as that response left her mouth, the canine's sly smile seemed to falter. Ever since the young alicorn had made her appearance at the Hunderlandian capital, Adalrik's playpup lifestyle had taken quite a turn. From having to visit Equestria, or as he affectionately refers to it, Donkey land. To have to attend this academy, he had grown quite a distaste for the mare.

So you can imagine that for the mare's coronation to not only be the same day of his birthday but to have the chance to finally get together with the orange dragon ruined, that was something almost insulting to him.

_indigo pizda,_ he cursed, "Can't you just cancel it?"

"I wish I could," Smolder lied, just to rile up the upset canine "but my dad and Lord Ember are pretty adamant about me going, so..."

The prince groaned in annoyance, "Alright, fine," he said, as he took back the invite from Smolder, who seemed quite loose with her grip on the card, "if it's the demand of Lord Ember, then fine," he said, as Smolder silently thanked every god she knew of.

Before he could continue, there was a familiar ring that broke the silent air surrounding the two teens. Once again, Adalrik groaned as he reached into his pocket, and looked to see who it was, only to emit a groan as he read the name, "Great, another osol," he cursed, before turning back to Smolder, "You owe me," he said, before finally tapping on the phone and answering the call in a language almost completely alien to the dragoness.

Smolder waited as the sounds of his paw steps got quieter and quieter, and once, the sound of his voice was completely gone, "Finally," Smoulder let out a sigh of relief.

"Is he gone," another, familiar, voice questioned to which Smoulder simply responded with a "yeah", before the not-so-mysterious figure proceeded to leave through the same door smolder came out of.

Slowly opening the door, a purple dragon scanned his surroundings a bit, still not sure if the dragoness was telling the truth, before finally opening the door all the way, and letting out his own sigh of relief, "Geez," Spike groaned, "good nobody saw,"

Smolder slyly smirked at the nervous dragon, "aw what's wrong, you embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"I-it's not that," Spike quickly defended, "it's just that, well what we did, was too dangerous, the door was unlocked, and would could have been caught-" he then looked down at his phone, a gift given to him by the Hunderlandian royal family "not to mention, it's almost time for classes to start, and we would have gotten in big trouble if anyone was walking around here,"

Smolder scoffed, "you didn't seem to worry about that the last few times we did it," she rebutted snarkily, causing the slightly shorter dragon to blush deeply at the memories.

"W-well, that's because we were in the castle or at least at your dorm," Spike explained, "but _that_ was cutting it close,"

The teen dragon rolled her eyes at the comment, "Whatever, you seemed to enjoy it," she rebutted, causing Spike's embarrassment to grow at the simple mention of the duo's physical encounters

Quickly trying to steer the conversation, Spike spoke up on a previous matter, "Well anyways, what was that party Rik was talking about," he asked, much to Smolders annoyance, "I think it would pretty cool to go,"

"Yeah, _you_ think it's cool," Smolder retorted, causing Spike to cringe with a guilty smile, as he has seen the amount of time's the Prine had tried to put the moves on the teen dragon, "look, even if I wanted to go, I can't, my mom's boyfriend want's my brother and me to get ready for Headmare Twilight's Coronation,"

The second she said that Spike's eyebrows rose inquisitively, "Wait, your mom's boyfriend?" he questioned.

Smolder sighed, "Look, don't get all teary-eyed or anything, but some years ago, before me, and my brother hatched, my dad was killed by some scum-of-the-earth dragon poachers,"

"Dragon poachers?" Spike repeated with a confused look, before a quick sense of realization hit him like a baseball bat, "You mean-"

"The pieces of shit who hunt down dragons and their eggs to skin them or sell them on the black market," Smolder growled, "Yeah, those assholes.

"My dad and his friends heard about some empty mine shaft with a shitload of gems, so they went off to go look. But it turned out, it was just a trap set up by those scum, and, from what my mom told me, they ambushed them with javelins and swords and killed him. That was the last time she heard from him," she finished, as a wave of fiery anger danced in her eyes.

Spike was taken aback as he heard his mate's story. For as long as they had been together, this was possibly the most open Smolder was about her past, "For Faust sake," he gasped, "that sounds awful,"

"Don't I know it," she replied before a small smirk crept on her face, "but luckily, with Princess Twilight and Lord Ember, we can finally give those bastards a taste of their own medicine,"

Turning to back to Spike, the dragoness' angered look subsided as she saw the drakes sadden smile, "Sorry, didn't mean to go off like that,"

"It's fine," Spike reassured, "I'm pretty sure everyone on Equus hates those guys as much as you do,"

"That's good to know," Smolder chuckled, "anyways, after all that, and after me and my brother were hatched, she's basically been single since. And when I asked her about dad, she made a promise she wouldn't find another mate-" Smolder scoffed at the statement, "apparently, that was a lie,"

"I'm sure your mom, had a good reason," Spike said, trying to defuse the dragon girl's anger, "I mean, if you were in her position, wouldn't you be a little open to dating again?" Smolder replied with a simple 'no', as she glared at the purple drake, who sighed in defeat, "Look, I may not understand what it's like, but I'd still say give the new guy a chance,"

"Why," Smolder shot back, "the guy is totally trying to pull something with my mom,"

"Well, I guess it depends," Spike continued.

"On what?" Smolder retorted

"Who is he?"

The second she heard that question, Smolder's irritation simmered. She stammered a bit, as a look of discomfort was well-read on her face. From the looks of it, she didn't want anyone, even her mate, to know, "I-it's no one special," she lied, "Just some douhcebag that was able to trick my mom into dating him, that's all,"

This time, Spike glared at the Dragon with a skeptical look, "Are you sure?" he inquired heavily, as he seemed to back the orange dragoness into the corner, "Come one, you can tell me," he said with a pleading look.

Smolder let out a small sigh, even though she was the much more dominant one in the relationship, whenever Spike looked at her like that, she was practically putty in his hands.

Letting out a deafening sigh, she finally admitted, "Alright, but you can't tell anyone," she demanded, to which Spike replied with an understanding nod, "alright, my mom's dating-" Before she could finish, a shrill school ring echoed through the school halls.

"Good Morning everyone," the familiar-sounding announcer greeted cheerfully.

Smoulder smiled in relief upon hearing the announcement, _Saved by the bell,_ she thought.

Spike, on the other hand, was not as cheerful, "Oh crap, I need to get to the office," he said, as he was about to head back to a hopefully unsuspicious mare. Before he could take a single step, he gave his orange mate a stern, or at least as stern a look he could give, before departing, "and don't think-"

"Were done talking about it, I know," Smolder finished, before giving the dragon a small kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush, "I'll see ya later, _mister_ Spike,"

"Y-you too," he replied, before jogging off to the headmare's office.

Smolder quietly chuckled to herself as she watched her mate run-off to his job, _He's such a dork sometimes,_ she jested with a smile, as she was about to make her way back to the front of the school.

"Well, you too seem quite cozy," a mysterious, yet familiar voice commented slyly, "I do hope he hasn't done anything, wicked, with you,"

Upon hearing the voice, a great irritation came over the dragoness as she turned to see a certain draconequus, who greeted her with a grin, _Bahamut dammit,_ Smolder cursed as she stood face to face with the creature that would become quite the biggest change in her life.

* * *

"-and that is all for the announcements," the indigo mare said, as she spoke into the microphone, "Let's all, and I wish everyone a fantastic day!" With that, the mare lifted her hoof from the red button of the device.

Taking a deep breath in, she smiled sweetly, as she awaited what the day could bring.

Not only was it a new school year, but it was possibly the first year where not only were there a record number of students this year, but a year that sought a good amount of change both literally, and metaphorically.

Following the doubly named 'Not-So-Cozy Incident, as many media outlets have called it a number of changes had come about the school that, thanks to a certain royal family, the concerns of parent, and the rather, vocal response of a yak mother, Twilight's academy had gone through a great deal of change not only to ensure the education of the students but their safety as well.

Following that meeting, newer measures including school ID's and a newly created security unit, have at the very least give some parents a modicum of comfort.

Along with that, of course, the school has also gone through major academic changes that, for Twilight, she was actually quite excited to see. Following yet another meeting with Chancellor Neighsay, a stallion who had gone through his own major changes since the incident, further talks about the academy ultimately lead to the discussion of its academics, and classes.

And to make a needlessly lone story short, the academic focus of the academy has had to be a bit more open in terms of its courses and classes, and by that, the addition of basic classes including Math, Science Ponish, History, and other elective courses in order for the academy's practices to be considered academically appropriate by the Equestrian School Association.

As such, a whole slew of new classes had been introduced to the academy, as well as a slew of new openings for teachers, which in a way, excited Twilight, as this could not just the students, but her friends, the chance to expand their horizons beyond friendship and possibly fid something that can create a great bonding experience for everyone.

With that excitement in mind, Twilight began her days like usual, **THUD** with a large stack of papers and registration forms, _I didn't think we'd get so many students this year,_ the mare thought before opening the first file, _Let's see, who do we have here,_

before she could delve into one of the files, a shrill ring entered her ears, which positively startled the focused mare as she nearly fell out of her chair. "What the hay," she exclaimed, as she looked around the room in confusion, "Where is that coming from?"

The second that question left her mouth a sudden vibrating noise could be heard from her desk. Looking to the right of her, she noticed the small vibrations of the desk drawer and almost in an instance, a sense of embarrassed realization occurred to her, "Oh right, my phone," she thought aloud, as she pulled the drawer open to reveal the gift she, as well as Spike, received, during their trip to Hunderland.

It was one, of the many other devices and machines that the mare had seen that positively elated her. From the numerous cars that sped about the Highways of the capital city, to the number of electronics and devices like the Crystalvision (similar to the televisions she saw during her time with Sunset) or the cri-phone, it was quite the experience coming from someone who had only seen such things only in the mirror world.

And the phone that Twilight was given was no different. Granted it was similar to the phones she saw in the mirror world, but this was still quite a marvel to the young princess. But, it was still something to get used to, especially considering the fact that it rang so loudly.

Picking up the device, she stared as she tried to remember how exactly answer the call, "Alright, how did I do this again," she thought aloud, as she looked at the phone from all angles, before finally finding a set buttons, which only seemed to confuse her more, _Which one was it?_ Twilight, then proceeded to pres on of the buttons.

However, rather than it beginning the call, it made the ringing louder, "Oh horseapples," she cursed as she tried to lower the volume.

And failed.

Twilight groaned as she tried to figure out the device, only to finally lower the volume.

With a sigh of relief, Twilight then turned to the backside of the device, to see a single button that, as if insulting her, said call in small letters.

Twilight face hoofed herself, "Of course," she groaned, before finally taping the button with her ability.

The second she did, a green-toned hologram bust appeared before her, and before her eyes, was the familiar face of her BBBFF.

"Twilly," the stallion inquired as he squinted his eyes at his sister, "Are you there?"

"I'm here Shining," she greeted with a smile, "sorry about that, I was a...looking for some important files," she lied, in the hopes of saving herself some embarrassment.

As soon as he could hear her voice, Shining smiled, "Oh good you're there, I can't really see you though," he responded, "I'm not sure what, but I don't think this device is working right,"

"I think it might be because of a bad signal," Twilight commented, "There aren't a lot of cry-towers in Ponyville, so there might be a bit of a connection issue. Or at least that's what Rik said when he gave me this,"

"I'll just take his word for it," Shinning chuckled, "I swear, I still can't figure out this thing for the life of me, trying to answer a call with is like trying to crack open a safe."

Twilight chuckled in response, "Well let's hope that Hunderland has a few features for Equestrians," she replied, "From what I heard, they're going to open up some phone stores in Manehattan and Canterlot soon,"

"Well, that should be...interesting," Shining replied, as the thought of all those high society, noble ponies fumbling with the phone quite hilarious, "Oh, speaking of Prince Adalrik, how's the academy going, since thew hole Cozy Glow situation? I assume the parent-teacher conference was a blast,"

_Oh and then some,_ Twilight thought to herself, "It was, interesting," she replied, "as you could image, not a lot of the parents were happy with how things went down,"

"How 'not happy' were they?"

"Well, let's just say that I think I may know a few Yakistani swear words now,"

Shining sharply inhaled at the comment, "Ouch, they were that mad, huh?"

"Yeah, but to some degree, I can understand their anger and concerns," Twilight said, "I mean if Flurry Heart was put in that kind of danger, wouldn't you flip out of the headmaster?"

Shining rubbed his chin with a questioning look, "Yeah, I guess," the Prince admitted, "But still, having to deal with all of that must be tough though,"

"Sure, it gets a bit frustrating from time to time, but I think the students make up for that. Especially considering how many more students we have this year, I'm not too worried,"

"Well that's good to hear," Shining Armor said with a small chuckle, "But your not the only one, I know what it's like when it comes to having ponies claw at you the second you mess up..." A deep sigh rang out on that last word, as a sadden look was clear across his face.

Now while Shinning should not see Twilight, she could definitely see him. And at the first sign of this distress, Twilight could tell there was something wrong with her BBBFF, "Shinny, what's wrong?" she asked with many worries.

The dejected stallion rubbed the back of his head, "Well," he began with a brief pause, as he tried to collect his thoughts, "It's just...well, it's about that meeting Cadance, Celestia and I had with the Crystal Libertarian Party,"

"Crystal Libertarian Party?" Twilight inquired before a familiar wave a realization hit her. A couple of years ago, before Twilight even thought up the academy, there was much political discourse occurring in the Crystal Empire for a few months now.

It seemingly began when an old proclamation signed by the late King Sombra was found. As it turned out, only those of Sombra's blood, or at least his closets friends, could take over the throne following his demise. And since Shining Armour and Cadance had not been of either. Because of that, a small group of Crystal ponies began to feel that their kingdom, once again, had been usurped by someone that they felt they had no choice in the matter.

That group, who would later be known as the Crystal Libertarian Party (CLP) became one of the biggest critics of the ruling family.

Although there was a good number of them, the majority of the population had no quims with the royal family, after all, they were the ones who freed them from Sombra after all, so what reason would they have to complain?

That was the way Shinning thought of it, his citizens had no reason to get so upset, so what need would there be for a change in leadership right?

That was his way of thinking until, almost suddenly, the CLP's party began to grow in numbers. No one was sure how; perhaps it was the birth of Flurry Heart or the mass kidnapping of the family at the hooves of the now dethroned Chrysalis, or maybe it was the growing understanding about Cadance and Shinnings relationship with the Sun Princess, but one thing was for sure, the majority had changed.

Soon enough, that's when the demonstrations began. A large number of ponies demanding for Cadence and Shinning to ease themselves of their power, and agree to a more inclusive and fairer way of leadership.

During those months, Shinning, as well as the many representatives of the politically chaotic Empire, attempted to suggest that perhaps smaller means of democracy, anything that would still allow him and his family a grand amount of power. But with each meeting, it all seemed to fall through, ending with threats by the CLP to take the matter into the heart of Equestria; Canterlot.

When the last meeting between the two opposing parties failed once more, the Leader of the Party, Gear Rust, along his a few of his party members made his way over into the capital, with the goal, and the demand of negotiating with Celestia.

After many hours of back and forth, and document searches, and a few, less than kind words, thrown about between the representatives and nobles of the Empire and the CLP, it was done.

Following that day, the Crystal Empire would forever be known from now on as the Crystal Republic, and for the first time, It would be the closest country in Equestria that was an official republic.

And for much of its citizens, the ponies couldn't be happier, and Twilight shared in this excitement. For the first time in her life, Twilight saw the making of major political history, Even though she was a princess herself, there was still a large chunk of History nerd within her that was elated to hear about how such a change that had gone through relatively peacefully.

While Twilight and much of the crystal ponies seemed thrilled by this, one certain stallion felt quite the opposite.

At the simple mention of the Party that singlehandedly brought an end to the monarchical power, it became quite Clear to Twilight why her brother seemed so, deterred, as she let out a quiet 'ooooh' as it hit her, "that party,"

"Yeah, those guys,"

"Well, what about them, is there something going on?" Twilight inquired with a slight look of worry.

"It's not that," Shinning continued, "It's just, ever since Flurry was born, I wanted to teach her about what it means to be a ruler, a good leader that ponies, griffons, dragons, or any other creature, can look up to. But, ever since that ruling, I just, I don't know, I just feel like Flurry got dealt the crap end of the stick,

"I just, I feel like I failed her,"

"Don't say that," Twilight scolded sternly, "You didn't fail Flurry, and I guarantee you, she didn't get the crap end of anything,"

Shinning groaned, "Twilight, all I and Cadance can do now is our work at the Crystal Court, and even all we do is listen to ponies go on about the littlest of things, that's not something I wasn't to leave my daughter when I die,"

As much as Twilight wanted to disagree, she could understand where her brother was coming from to a certain degree. Considering the fact that not even in a month would she be in the same position as he deposed brother, as well as her own experiences with other royal leaders and the like, it was understandable why Shinning was upset.

Afterall if the kingdom you protected with every fiber of your being, as if they were your own child, decided to do something like that to you, she would feel quite offended.

"Look, I understand what you mean," Twilight replied, "I mean, after everything you and Cadance have done, I can see why your so upset, but maybe this is for the best? Sometimes things may not go the way you plan, but that doesn't mean it's the end, sometimes you just need to go with the flow, and see where the opportunities come," with those words of encouragement, there was a brief pause in Shining's response, as

Did she offed the bemused Prince, or was it something that, because of the phone's issues, she herself could not see.

"Shinning," Twilight inquired, "you okay,"

"I'm fine," Shinning said, "I just didn't expect you of all ponies, to say something like that,"

Twilight smirked at that response, "Well, I guess living in Ponyville for so long has taught me a lot of things," she chuckled.

The Prince smirked back at the mare, but not before letting out a small giggle of his own, "Yeah, I guess so," he responded. Soon, a knocking sound interrupted the siblings' conversation, causing the Twilight to look over at her office door, _I wonder who that could be?_ she pondered, "come in!"

"Sorry Shinning, I need to go, I think it might be one of my students,"

"It's alright," the prince responded, "I've got some work I need to do anyway, so I'll see you in a bit,"

"Alright then, bye,"

"Later," he responded, as he tried to cut the transmission, "now hos do turn off this stupid-" in accidental success, the stallion cut the feed, and with those last words, the stallion cut off the connection as the green opaque bust of his body disappeared in an instant.

Once he was gone, the door was wide open to revile a certain late kid dragon, who seemed to be panting a bit as he entered the room. As soon as he did, Twilight gave the drake an inquiring look, it had been what was seemingly the third time this year that Spike had been late to her office, and it was quite unlike him to repeat such an act.

It almost seemed as if, something in Spike, since the incident, changed.

"Oh, hey Twilight," Spike said with an innocent, yet nervous smile.

"Spike," Twilight began, "Where have you been, I was looking for you this morning but when I asked Starlight, she said she hadn't seen you either,"

"Oh, yeah," Spike mumbled shakily, "well, I was, just, tutoring one of the students with their work, they spoke with me yesterday and I decided to help them, I didn't really think to tell you, 'cause I just thought you wouldn't mind," he lied to the soon-to-be ruler, who gave him an inquisitive look at the dragon.

"Really," Twilight questioned, as Spike hoped the lie would work.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was Rarity's class," he suggested, "I mean, not to sound rude, but I honestly never expected somepony like her to be that much of a math wiz, and I guess that student thought the same way,"

Twilight let out a faint chuckle at the small quip, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they aren't alone on that one," she replied with an unsuspecting smile, much to the relief of Spike, "While I'm glad you're helping the students, next time, just tell me okay?" Spike gave a thumbs up in response.

"No problem," he replied, "Anyways, I heard you and Shining talking a bit, how's he doing?"

"Well, from what he told me, he's fine, but..."

"He's still upset about the whole Crystal Republic thing?" Spike inquired, to which Twilight simply nodded, "Well, I'm sure he'll get over it, I mean it worked out for Hunderland, so at least he'll have someone to relate to, right,"

"Hm, you do have a point there," Twilight replied jokingly.

"Speaking of which," Spike continued, how's everything going for the coronation? Last I heard, you were still looking for party designers to help Pinkie with the setup?"

As soon as the mention of the coronation came out of his mouth, an anxious look appeared on Twilight's face, "Oh, right, that," she mumbled. Ever since the incident at the school, life seemed to change so much for the young Princess, and for Celestia to come out and chose Twilight to be her replacement, it was certainly a surprise that the former student couldn't have expected.

While many expected the mare to break down there and then, she has surprisingly unbothered by this decree. Once the Powerful Alicorn leader announced it, Twilight was, just fine, excited in fact.

It was almost as if, all those years in Ponyville, have finally gotten rid of her anxiety issues, or so some would believe.

"Well, I was able to find one in Canterlot that would be able to keep up with her, and from what Luna told me, she was apparently a pretty well-known event planner in the city so that's who I chose," she said with an etched smile, "she said we have a meeting scheduled tomorrow, to see the plans, so that should be fun,"

"Heh, yeah I bet," Spike joked, "But hey, I guess it should be all worth it in the end, right? By the end of the day, you get to make the decrees"

"R-right," Twilight stuttered, _I-I'm going to replace Celestia,_ Twilight thought fretfully, _In a month everypony's gonna be looking up, to me,_ Pushing that thought to the back of her head, she spoke once more, "Uh, hey Spike," she called to the young drake.

"Yeah, Twi,"

"I was wondering," she continued, a brief pause in her words, as she stared down for a second, "c-could you get me some tea, I need a bit for a pick me up,"

"Sure thing," he said with a smile, before exiting the room.

Once he was gone, Twilight let out a small groan as she looked down at the small yellow prescription slip in her desk drawer. A look of shame was etched on her face as the writing of the paper stared back at her with a taunting look, "I can't do this again," she whispered as she picked up the piece of paper- "not now'" and quickly ripped it apart, "never again,"

With the sheet of paper ripped up, and taking another long breath, Twilight returned to her work with a clear mind, as she looked over the files of students attending next year.

Even though Starlight would take over as headmare, she still needed to know the creatures that would be attending. As she did, she picked up a rather, light file. While the others were at least a pound or so, this weight a bit less than usual.

Picking up and opening the file, she looked insight to see a rather baren application sheet of a pony who, from their picture, looked quite odd.

Not in the sense that they had any weird deformities or anything of the sort. But rather how generic they looked and bare their expression and body was.

Just a white pony with a black mane and nothing else. In fact, The soon-to-be ruler couldn't even tell what their sex was if it weren't for the sheet which comically enough, was barley filled, only with the most essential of things being written down.

The colt's heights, his sex, and of course, his name.

"Verum" Twilight repeated, as she stared at the blank colts picture with the feel as if she has met him before.


End file.
